It may not be possible to catch all the best moments in a single day of the Olympic Games, but we’re going to try. Every day, we’ll award medals for standout achievements at (and around) Pyeongchang 2018 and achievements that may or may not be recognized on the podium.
With the Pyeongchang Olympics Games officially kicking off with Day 0, we look at some of the top moments from the Opening Ceremony.
Gold medal for making the best Opening Ceremony return
Remember that dreamy, ripped, shirtless, oiled-up Tonga flag-bearer from the Rio 2016 Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies?
Well, he’s back.
Despite -3 C weather, Pita Taufatofua made a triumphant return to the Olympic spotlight, no shirt, oiled up and everything.
Taufatofua represented Tonga in taekwondo at Rio 2016, but he transitioned to cross-country skiing for Pyeongchang.
Let’s be real, though, the dude totally just made the leap to a winter sport to give us all what we didn’t even know we were desperately missing in our lives.
Gold medal for playing up some of your nation’s tropes
Sticking with the whole, “I don’t care what the weather says it is I’m dressing like it’s summer” theme of the Opening Ceremony, Bermuda decided to make their grand debut in shorts.
The shorts are cute, but keep in mind this is an award for “tropes” I’m handing out here – you know, as in more than one. So with that in mind, take a closer look at the both the amount of athletes Bermuda has and the formation they’re in.
Well played, Bermuda.
Gold medal for the most “it’s lit” references
As is the case at every Olympic Opening Ceremony, the Olympic Cauldron was the climax of the event.
Korean Olympic figure skating champion from the 2010 Vancouver Games Yuna Kim got to do the honour — sort of. In a neat looking piece of technology, Kim placed her torch onto a platform where out of it a robotic flaming spiral pillar emerged from the ground and set the Cauldron aflame.
Of course, given the age we live in, Twitter just couldn’t help but let you know that Pyeongchang was officially “lit.”
The official lighting of the Olympic cauldron by Korean Olympic gold medallist figure skater Yuna Kim pic.twitter.com/kg9Zp7RzNC
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 9, 2018
It's lit!https://t.co/wF2LpPLuay #bbcolympics #openingceremony #winterolympics pic.twitter.com/TAcWab5YBZ
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 9, 2018
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