Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Highlights Of The Pyeongchang Olympics Opening Ceremony, In Photos

Spectators watch fireworks go off at the start of the opening ceremony.
Martin Bernetti AFP/Getty Images
Spectators watch fireworks go off at the start of the opening ceremony.

Beginning with fireworks and ending with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, Pyeongchang's Winter Olympics opening ceremony, called "Peace in Motion," took place Friday evening amid gusts of wind and frigid temperatures.

Watching inside the Olympic stadium was a crowd of more than 30,000 — including South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who shook hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Vice President Pence sat nearby.

In the parade of nations — 92 are taking part in these Olympics — American luger Erin Hamlin, a four-time Olympian, served as Team USA's flag-bearer. A unified Korean team marched together under a unification flag. But many thought Pita Taufatofua — who competed in taekwondo in Rio's Summer Games and is in Pyeongchang to compete in cross-country skiing — stole the show by reprising his bare-chested appearance as flag-bearer for Tonga.

Advertisement

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.