Friday 6 February sees the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in the Russian city of Sochi. A total of 88 countries will be represented at the games in the Black Sea resort city, and seven of those will be making their debut at this event.
The build-up to the games, however, has not gone without controversy – and this in a period when seemingly every major international sporting event in being placed under the microscope.
While corruption in Brazil and the horrific fate of Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar had shifted the story away from Sochi somewhat, the widespread concerns about its suitability as a venue are now coming back into focus, and are sure to remain until the last medal has been awarded.
Reports of rampant corruption have been followed most worryingly by the concerns of many athletes over Russia’s ban on gay “propaganda”, not to mention and the latest in a series of warnings from Jihadist groups and spate of violence near the Caucasus.
In South Korea the build-up to the games has been surprisingly quiet, with the Korea Herald on approaching the subject of security risks towards the bottom of a routine column in the sports section of its online edition. The reporter, Jung Min-ho, introduced the topic by reporting that a video was posted on “a well-known Jihadist forum website which threatened visitors to the games”.
Since returning to Seoul last month, I’ve noticed mainstream media attention of the risks posed to Korea’s best athletes has been somewhat mute, but perhaps when the games finish on 23 February we will look upon this in respect at not raising the fear levels any higher.
Still, the reality is more likely that the public are not particularly interested in the events leading up to the Winter Olympics – certainly not those with whom I’ve spoken. International news and politics coverage in the media is almost exclusively reserved for North Korea and the latest round of provocation from Japan over the disputed islands in Korea’s East Sea.
In the background, 71 athletes from South Korea have qualified for Sochi, comfortably the country’s highest ever total. For the first time ever, South Korea will be represented in every sport apart from ice hockey, and even that is something sports authorities are looking for rectify for 2018.
Under the headline ‘Study time almost over for Olympic team’, the Korea Herald claims that the Olympic team are “burdened by expectations for a historic medal haul. They have been facing mounting pressure for an impressive performance in Sochi, where the country aims at winning at least four gold medals and add to the build-up for the 2018 games to be held at the Korean ski town of PyeongChang, Gangwon Province.”
The last part of the sentence is vitally important. Next summer, the city of Incheon – just west of Seoul – will host the Asia Games, an event that will be seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2018 Winter Olympics that Korea will host for the first time. Those games will also mark the 30th anniversary of the Summer Olympics in Seoul.
The preparations begin by observing Russia’s hosting performance – and hopefully returning with an impressive medal collection, to prove how competitive they’ll be on home snow and ice.
One team member who won’t get to star at home in 2018, however, is figure skater Kim Yuna. The unofficial ‘queen of Korea’ is expected to bow out following the Sochi games. But if she can retain the gold medal she won in Vancouver four years ago, she will justifiably be recognised as one of the greatest figure skaters of the past three decades. The dreams of nearly 50 million South Koreans rest on her shoulders. No pressure, then.
Andrew Farrell works as an English language teacher in Korea.
