Get ready for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games with our breakdown of the pertinent information you need to know:
When are the Olympics?
The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games will be contested from Feb. 8-25, 2018. The Opening Ceremony will take place on Friday, Feb. 9, but competition will actually begin on Thursday, Feb. 8, with curling mixed doubles games and men’s ski jumping qualifications. Competition will conclude on Sunday, Feb. 25, the same date as the Closing Ceremony.
The Sports
All 15 sports held at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games will return in PyeongChang. Choose a sport below to learn more about its events, competition format, athletes to watch and venue, and review each sport’s highlights from Sochi.
The Events
A total of 102 medal events across 15 sports will be contested in PyeongChang, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded in each. That total includes six new medal events making their debut in 2018:
- Alpine skiing: Team event
- Curling: Mixed doubles
- Snowboarding: Men’s big air
- Snowboarding: Women’s big air
- Speed skating: Men’s mass start
- Speed skating: Women’s mass start
Two events from Sochi — men’s and women’s snowboarding parallel slalom — have been eliminated. Peruse the full list of all 102 medal events at PyeongChang 2018, and review the final Sochi 2014 medal standings.
The Athletes
Several thousand athletes from nations across six continents are expected to qualify for the PyeongChang Olympics. Some will be returning stars, others will be looking to make their Olympic mark for the first time. Keep tabs on our list of top athletes to watch in each Olympic sport and follow their paths to PyeongChang.
Team USA sent 230 athletes to Sochi, and a similarly sized contingent is expected to qualify for PyeongChang. Keep checking back on our Team USA roster to see which Americans have qualified, and learn more about the Olympic qualification procedures for American athletes in every sport to see how and when they’ll punch their tickets to South Korea.
The Venues
Competition at the 2018 Games will be broken up between two groups of venues — the PyeongChang mountain cluster, and the Gangneung coastal cluster. The breakdown of venues and sports within each location is as follows:
PyeongChang mountain cluster
- PyeongChang Olympic Stadium – Opening and Closing Ceremonies
- Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre – Ski jumping, Nordic combined, snowboarding (big air)
- Alpensia Biathlon Centre – Biathlon
- Alpensia Cross-Country Centre – Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined
- Alpensia Sliding Centre – Bobsled, luge, skeleton
- Olympic Village
- Yongpyong Alpine Centre – Alpine skiing (slalom, giant slalom)
- Bokwang Snow Park – Freestyle skiing, snowboarding
- Jeongseon Alpine Centre – Alpine skiing (downhill, super-G, combined)
Gangneung coastal cluster
- Gangneung Hockey Centre – Hockey (men’s)
- Gangneung Curling Centre – Curling
- Gangneung Oval – Speed skating
- Gangneung Ice Arena – Figure skating, short track
- Kwandong Hockey Centre – Hockey (women’s)
How to watch the Olympics
The PyeongChang Olympic Games will be broadcast across the networks of NBC Universal and streamed live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app on mobile devices and connected TVs. Check back closer to the action for full broadcast, streaming and competition schedules, and more details on exactly how to watch the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.