North Korea Skaters Seek Olympic Bid

[Taan]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/sports/olympics/north-korea-winter-olympics.html

Dressed in silver and black costumes at training on Wednesday, the pair skated to an instrumental version of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” as performed by Jeff Beck, which will provide a musical backdrop for Thursday’s opening performance.The issue can be culturally sensitive. At the world championships, the North Koreans ended a brief interview with The Associated Press when asked how they had chosen the Beatles’ music.

 

[Mrs. P]

I'm rooting for this team to qualify! I think they are very talented.

 

[Anyasnake]

I really like them, nothing better than sport against conflict. They're really good ! I'm rooting for them too :agree:

 

[SnowWhite]

Meagan Duhamel shared a few photos of them training together this summer. Several pilates photos, a group picture and a shot of them on the Quebec Summer comp podium.


It's cool that Bruno continues to work with them some. Hearing his comments on them is very interesting.

“All the time they would ask me: ‘Do you think we have a chance to qualify? Are we good enough? What do we need to qualify?’” Mr. Marcotte said of the pair, who aspire to become one of the world’s top 10 teams.

And that bit about them cooking for his South Korean pairs team was great. It reminds me of the North and South Korean gymnasts taking a selfie in Rio.

 

[da96103]

If they qualify, the games have a semi-guarantee of not being disrupted?

 

[Sugarpova]

I'm rooting for this team to qualify! I think they are very talented.

tatally rooting!

 

[andromache]

I'm more than a little surprised that the North Koreans are consulting with the Canadians as opposed to the Chinese (though I guess that could be happening as well). I had assumed the entire reason NK would be able to have a competitive pair in the first place would be due to some consulting with the Chinese, who really began building their pairs program from the ground-up when China was pretty closed-off from the international world (Yao Bin and his partner only had photographs of international pairs to learn from).

Meagan's Instagram with the NK pair is precious.

 

[SnowWhite]

I'm more than a little surprised that the North Koreans are consulting with the Canadians as opposed to the Chinese (though I guess that could be happening as well). I had assumed the entire reason NK would be able to have a competitive pair in the first place would be due to some consulting with the Chinese, who really began building their pairs program from the ground-up when China was pretty closed-off from the international world (Yao Bin and his partner only had photographs of international pairs to learn from).

Meagan's Instagram with the NK pair is precious.

We were all pretty surprised in the Canadian Skating thread when we saw them on entry list for the Quebec Summer Comp. It's nice to see though.

They had a good short program today and sit in third of the teams going for the 5 Olympic spots.

 

[nolangoh]

I really would like this team to go to PyeongChang, not only because i want to see that sports, especially the Olympic Games, is (idealistically) non-political, but also that this is a team that has potential and has a chance to medal in future events (they already got one at Asian Winter Games earlier this year). So I wish they have enough resources to help them train to go further.

 

[SnowWhite]

I really would like this team to go to PyeongChang, not only because i want to see that sports, especially the Olympic Games, is (idealistically) non-political, but also that this is a team that has potential and has a chance to medal in future events (they already got one at Asian Winter Games earlier this year). So I wish they have enough resources to help them train to go further.

I think sending them to train in Canada for the summer is a good sign in terms of them being given opportunities to get experience and improve. They normally don't go to that many competitions IIRC, but this year they did a Canadian summer comp.

 

[anyanka]

It was a real surprise to see them turn up in Montreal. No idea if that means NK wants to become more "open" at least with elite level athletes, but seeing the collaboration and training is great. And kudos to Meagan for being so supportive of them!

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

I'm really rooting for them! I hope they make it!

 

[Anyasnake]

THEY MADE IT !!

 

[DorYiu]

THEY MADE IT !!

Really? I am so glad that they did it.
I am trying to search for their performance in Youtube, but couldn't find it. May I ask where did you watch their performance?

 

[Andrea82]

Really? I am so glad that they did it.
I am trying to search for their performance in Youtube, but couldn't find it. May I ask where did you watch their performance?

The FS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_17VCeGc3G4

 

[SnowWhite]

Very happy for them

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

The FS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_17VCeGc3G4

They're really good! That's a great accomplishment for them.

 

[mrrice]

They were really good and I hope their Country rallies around them as this is such a huge accomplishment.

 

[Seren]

I am really impressed by them- there had to be a lot of pressure and they kept it together!

 

[Blades of Passion]

I love their Short Program - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HzT2o48dr7k