International Olympic Committee focus on political unity during opening ceremony... but it is the athletes who make the Winter Games truly special

  • The Winter Games opened with a sugary ceremony which focused on the unifying power of the Olympics 
  • The International Olympic Committee caked on the symbolism of the two Koreas unifying for the night  
  • Team GB stepped out in front of the watching world on Friday for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony 
  • British skeleton competitor Lizzy Yarnold was selected as Team GB's flag-bearer for the showpiece event 
  • The 29-year-old's Great Britain team-mates chose Yarnold to lead them out as she beamed a huge smile

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Of course, it's all doves and hugs until the angry chap in the north fancies his next rocket show. But that's what hope is for and no one smears it on quite like the folk of the International Olympic Committee.

Friday night's opening ceremony was covered in the stuff. The North, the South, the symbolism of two warring Koreas together again after seven decades of segregation and just getting along. Build bridges over the 38th parallel with ice hockey, and all that.


That is not to sound overly cynical - there was a handshake between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam, and that, according to those who truly know these things, was meaningful. A tick for the Olympics where other channels of diplomacy have fallen short, then.

International Olympic Committee lay-on the symbolism of the Koreas together again during sugary opening ceremony 

International Olympic Committee lay-on the symbolism of the Koreas together again during sugary opening ceremony 

A handshake between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam

A handshake between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam

The grand opening event in South Korea marked the 23rd winter Games as countries ramp up preparations to ensure medals

The grand opening event in South Korea marked the 23rd winter Games as countries ramp up preparations to ensure medals

Fireworks light up the night sky around the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium as the opening ceremony enters full swing

Fireworks light up the night sky around the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium as the opening ceremony enters full swing

The opening ceremony included a dove made out of candles which symbolised the coming together of both Koreas 

The opening ceremony included a dove made out of candles which symbolised the coming together of both Koreas 

But it is probably important, also, to remember that too much sugar is bad for you and the IOC's presentation of its role in a peaceful future was possibly, predictably, just a touch sweet.

They merged two illuminated doves into one, paraded athletes of the two nations together on a lap of the Olympic Stadium, delivered a local rendition of John Lennon's Imagine, and offered words of reconciliation through Thomas Bach, the Supreme Leader of all he surveys at the IOC.

He talked of 'unifying power', that 'united in our diversity, we are stronger than all the forces that want to divide us', and of 'sending a powerful message of peace to the world'.

Noble feelings from a man who seems the sort to obsess in his downtime about the feel of a Nobel Prize. But they were also words that didn't seem too mindful of footage from one day earlier, showing Kim Jong Un 180 miles north at a parade of his troops and his biggest missiles. 

Hopefully he's an ice hockey fan and the joint women's team do well, starting on Saturday against Switzerland.

IOC President Thomas Back addresses the opening ceremony and explains their role in creating a peaceful future

IOC President Thomas Back addresses the opening ceremony and explains their role in creating a peaceful future

The 30,000 people inside the Olympic stadium witnessed a spectacular ceremony despite braving the sub-zero temperature 

The 30,000 people inside the Olympic stadium witnessed a spectacular ceremony despite braving the sub-zero temperature 

Tonga's flagbearer, cross-country skier Pita Taufatofua, opted to go shirtless for his big moment in the opening ceremony

Tonga's flagbearer, cross-country skier Pita Taufatofua, opted to go shirtless for his big moment in the opening ceremony

The visually-stunning opener at the Olympic stadium began with an animal-based performance featuring the white tiger

The visually-stunning opener at the Olympic stadium began with an animal-based performance featuring the white tiger

With that in mind, arguably the most sensible words on the subject came from Sir Hugh Robertson, the chairman of the British Olympic Association.

'You want to be careful of over-claiming about this,' he said. 'It's great that for the Games there has been rapprochement. If this is part of a series of small steps to increase dialogue between the two Koreas, that's great.

'But I would always be cautious about over-claiming. People watch sport for great sporting moments, not because of what it's contributing to international diplomacy.' 

And that seems about right. Rather than the packaging of the Olympics as a vehicle for world peace, it should be about the athletes and their quirky tales. That is when the Olympics is at its greatest.

It should be about the Nigerian bobsleigh team; about Pita Taufatofua, the Tongan who turned up half naked to the Rio Olympics opening ceremony when he was a taekwondo fighter and then did it again in freezing Pyeongchang last night as a cross-country skier; about Lindsey Vonn and her tears for her late grandfather; about Darya Domracheva, the three-time Olympic champion biathlete from Belarus who was inadvertently outed in 2016 as a lieutenant in the KGB; about lunatic ski jumpers; about Britain's Elise Christie winning in a country where a few hundred wished her dead four years ago.

The carefully-choreographed light show continued with birds and other animals before the athletes were ushered to join

The carefully-choreographed light show continued with birds and other animals before the athletes were ushered to join

Skeleton champion Lizzie Yarnold was elected as the person to lead out Team GB for the prestigious opening ceremony event

Skeleton champion Lizzie Yarnold was elected as the person to lead out Team GB for the prestigious opening ceremony event

Yarnold was chosen by her Great Britain team-mates to have the honour of being the flagbearer for the opening ceremony

Yarnold was chosen by her Great Britain team-mates to have the honour of being the flagbearer for the opening ceremony

On a Team GB level, it is about proving that clever investment of National Lottery proceeds can compensate for our lack of natural advantages when it comes to snow and ice games. 

Precisely £28.353,135 has been channelled into this team with the minimum aim of winning four medals and tying the record haul from Sochi 2014. Taking 10 is the pipe dream they think is possible.

Is there an argument that £5.6m is way too much to spend on four years of a curling programme, and that there is a limit to how much healthy living might be inspired by the success of Eve Muirhead? Probably. Will those legacy debates cross the mind of any right-minded sports fan if Muirhead has a stone to win gold two weeks on Sunday? You would hope not.

And for that reason the Olympics will always be special in summer and winter. It really doesn't need a committee with grandiose claims.

The 29-year-old carried the flag at the closing ceremony in Sochi, Russia, four years ago after winning gold in that event

The 29-year-old carried the flag at the closing ceremony in Sochi, Russia, four years ago after winning gold in that event

Expectation is building on Team GB's stars with a strong British support roaring them on inside the Pyeongchang stadium

Expectation is building on Team GB's stars with a strong British support roaring them on inside the Pyeongchang stadium

Team GB athletes took the opportunity to demonstrate their excitement ahead of entering the opening ceremony walkway

Team GB athletes took the opportunity to demonstrate their excitement ahead of entering the opening ceremony walkway