In North Korea, most citizens are not allowed to leave the country. However, for the Winter Olympics hosted in South Korea, the North Korean regime is permitting athletes to compete. North and South Korea will be united under one flag, and a pair of figure skaters from North Korea has qualified for the games. The International Olympic Committee gave them quota places, a rarely-used form of wild card, to allow them to compete since they missed the registration deadline. Many people are looking forward to a cultural exchange and interaction between North and South Korea. Listen to learn more about these North Korean figure skaters who will compete in the Olympics.
Story Length: 3:35
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February 1, 2018
4:50
The Winter Olympics are starting soon, and in an historic breakthrough, Communist North Korea will send some athletes and a cheering squad to participate in the games, which are being held in the neighboring country of South Korea. The government of South Korea decided to welcome the North and agreed to walk under one flag and even combine athletes on the women’s ice hockey team. But North and South Korea have a frosty relationship and now people in South Korea are protesting the cooperation for the games. Listen to learn why leaders in South Korea are supporting this alliance and how it looks to the rest of the world.
Read MoreFebruary 12, 2014
3:41
In past Olympics, vote trading, where one judge trades for votes with another judge, skewed judging in ice skating; however, when anonymity was enacted, vote trading just got worse. Listen to this story to learn how subjectivity has a role in judging.
Read MoreFebruary 11, 2014
3:27
Curling is the Olympic sport of propelling a rock across the ice field with a broom called a brush. Although it looks simple, curling has been known as “chess on ice” and requires a lot of athletic ability to move the rock forward accurately. Listen to this story to learn what skills curlers need.
Read MoreFebruary 10, 2014
3:03
The Sochi Olympics started with lots of snow—lots of man-made snow, guaranteed by machines. This time last year, Sochi was dry, but they have enough snow now to cover almost 920 football fields. Listen to this story to learn how the machine works.
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