(ATR) The night was bitter cold, but the spirit was warmer than ever as the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang got underway.
Looking elegant and stunning in a long white coat,South Korean figure skating superstarYuna Kim lit the Olympic cauldron from a small sheet of ice atop steps in the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium.
Twenty minutes earlier, the Games were officially declared open by South Korean president Moon Jae-In.
Peace in Motion was the theme of the two-hour and fifteen-minute ceremony on a frigid and momentous night - the emotional highlight was the joint march between North and South Korean athletes.The crowd greeted the unified march behind one flag with rapturous applause and spectators rose to their feet to acknowledge the spectacle.
Geo-politics were put aside – at least for the moment – in thispart of the world that has been unsettled since a truce stopped the Korean War in 1953. The North Korean Olympic delegation includes 22 athletes inPyeongChang.
The overwhelmingly warm and friendly welcome for the Koreans was a polar opposite to the response given to the 169 Russian athletes marching as neutrals behind the Olympic flag carried by a volunteer. It was asurreal moment provoked by the worst doping scandal in Olympic history. Russia's state-sponsored doping scheme has dominated the build-up to these Games.
Despite a ban by the IOC and suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, Team ‘OAR’ the Olympic Athletes from Russia were the third largest delegation to march behindonlyCanada and the United States.
Bach: "Stay Clean"
In his address to the athletes, IOC president Thomas Bach didn't mention Russia or the scandal but said: ""You can only respect the Olympic games if you respect the rules - and stay clean."
A total of 91 countries,counting North and South Korea as one, marched in the parade of nations as temperatures hovered around freezing. A swift breeze made the evening feel that much colder as journalists packed up their laptops and scurried inside to find warmth.
The athletes spirit wasn’t dampened by the biting cold, the best example being Tongan cross-country skier PitaTaufatofua. Just like in Rio de Janeiro where he competed in Taekwondo, he carried his country’s flag oiled and bare-chested despite a nearly 40 degree difference in temperatures between the two Olympics.
Bermuda’s delegation was of a similar mindset, also demonstrating courage while wearing shorts on a lessthan balmy night.
Following a speech in Korean byPyeongChang Olympic organizing presidentHeeBeom Lee, who has emphasized ever since he took over from Cho Yang-ho that these would be the ‘Peace Games,’Bach did his best to help warm up the frigid South Korean night.
"This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for – the first Winter Games on snow and ice in the Republic of Korea. You can all be very proud tonight – now is the time forPyeongChang.
"Dear athletes, now it is your turn. This will be the competition of your life. Over the next few days, the world will be looking to you for inspiration. You will inspire us all to live together in peace and harmony, despite all the differences we have. You will inspire us by competing for the highest honor with the Olympic values of excellence, respect and fair play."
Bach praised the rival Koreas, the neighboring countries coming a little bit closer in the spirit ofOlympism.
"The joint showing of the people of the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a powerful message of peace to the world," Bach said. "We are touched by this gesture. United, we are stronger."
Reported by Brian Pinelliin PyeongChang
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