North and South Korea to March Under Unified Korea Flag at Pyeongchang Olympics
Jan 17, 2018
PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - JANUARY 12: The Olympic Rings on the beach at Gangneung ahead of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics on January 12, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
South Korea announced Wednesday that it will march under a unified Korean flag with North Korea at the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, according to Reuters Sports.
The 2018 Winter Games will begin on Feb. 9 with the opening ceremony, and it will run through Feb. 25.
The BBC reported the two nations have also agreed to field a joint women's hockey team for the 2018 Olympics, although they will compete separately in other sports.
The countries have a history of marching together at the Olympics, although they haven't done so since the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.
North Korea and South Korea also marched under the unified Korean flag at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics.
The neighboring nations have long had chilly relations since splitting during the aftermath of World War II in 1945.
Asian Games 2014: Latest Medal Count and Early Highlights from Incheon
Sep 22, 2014
South Korea’s Jeong Gyeong-mi, in white, and North Korea’s Sol Kyong compete in the women’s -78kg judo gold medal contest at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 22, 2014. Japan won the gold. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
As expected, China has taken the early lead atop the medal count at the 2014 Asian Games, and it's unclear whether Japan or host nation South Korea will be able to catch up.
Either way, the action so far in Incheon has been high-caliber through the opening three days at the 2014 Asiad. Whether it's football, swimming, shooting, weightlifting or anything in between, these countries are going at it in the early days with everything on the line.
The battles on tap for Monday did not disappoint. There were intense basketball showdowns, thrilling drama in the shooting competitions and swimming performances that stood out from the rest. And that's only the start of it.
We're only three days in, but plenty of medals have already been claimed. Let's break down the biggest moments so far from Incheon and take an early look at the medal count.
Pos.
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1
China
26
14
18
58
2
Korea
14
15
16
45
3
Japan
13
13
16
42
4
Mongolia
3
3
6
12
5
DPR Korea
3
3
4
10
6
Kazakhstan
2
2
5
9
7
Myanmar
2
0
0
2
8
Vietnam
1
2
4
7
9
Iran
1
2
0
3
10
Chinese Taipei
1
1
5
7
11
Malaysia
1
1
2
4
12
Hong Kong
1
0
6
7
13
India
1
0
5
6
14
Indonesia
0
3
1
4
15
Macau
0
3
0
3
16
Kuwait
0
2
0
2
17
Uzbekistan
0
1
4
5
18
Singapore
0
1
3
4
19
Laos
0
1
0
1
19
Lebanon
0
1
0
1
Extra highlights and live streams of the 2014 Asian Games are available at eversport.tv.
Host South Korea Starts Strong in Football, Palestine Surprises
South Korea got off to just about as good a start as you can imagine in the group stage of men's football, easily advancing with three lopsided wins to begin what should be a medal-winning run.
It began with a 3-0 beating of Malaysia, but that was only the appetizer. After a 10-0 drubbing of India, it was obvious the hosts may have a havoc-wreaking squad. They closed out strong with a 2-0 win over Laos, which you can see the highlights of below:
The victory clinched the top spot in Group A for South Korea, which was all but expected entering the tournament. Not every group was so predictable, however.
Palestine made sure of that by winning Group C. Not much was expected of the Palestinians heading in, but they held off Tajikistan to win the group and eliminated Singapore and Oman in the process.
Despite falling to Singapore on Sunday as Singapore Football noted, they still had enough points to hold off the favorites:
Full Time: Singapore 2-1 Palestine Shafiq Ghani 1'18' Singapore are out of the Asian Games!#SGfootball#2014AsianGames
That unlikely result was nearly outweighed substantially by China's near collapse. The Chinese needed to win against Pakistan to avoid a shocking group-stage defeat, and they eked out a 1-0 win.
Simply put, there have been plenty of surprises to go along with the expected outcomes so far in the men's football tournament. Don't be caught off-guard if that continues.
Kosuke Hagino Just Keeps Rolling
Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino has been on the world's radar ever since his bronze-medal performance in the men's 400-meter individual medley in the 2012 Olympics in London, but he's proving in Incheon that his name belongs beside the world's best.
He posted one of the biggest victories of his young career on Sunday, beating standouts Sun Yang and Park Tae-Hwan in the 200-meter men's freestyle to claim gold. Take a look at highlights from Hagino's race below:
It was expected to be a duel between Yang and Tae-Hwan for the gold and was for much of the race, but Hagino hung tight and made his surge late—much to the surprise of even himself.
"I didn't think I could win tonight," Hagino told reporters, per sports.ndtv.com. "Sun and Park are on a different level and it's an incredible feeling to beat them. It will give me so much more confidence when I race them again in international competitions."
But despite the monumental victory, he wasn't done there. Hagino turned around on Monday to win the 200-meter individual medley in convincing fashion.
After finishing more than three seconds ahead of his competition, the 20-year-old broke another Asian record, per Swimming World:
Hagino showed once again his class in the individual medley event that he beat Michael Phelps in at the Pan Pacific Championships, but his upset victory in the 200-meter freestyle event was all the more convincing.
While the Japanese standout has made a name for himself in the individual medley, making serious strides into becoming elite in the freestyle proves Hagino is on his way to stardom. A few Americans might take exception, but Hagino is looking the part of the world's best swimmer at the moment.
