FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2018, file photo, Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky practices ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. Krushelnitsky was stripped of his Olympic bronze... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2018, file photo, Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky practices ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. Krushelnitsky was stripped of his Olympic bronze medal after admitting to a doping violation at the Pyeongchang Games. Krushelnitsky tested positive... (Associated Press) 
 
 PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local): 
 
 8:45 p.m. 
 
 The South Korean president's office says a North Korean delegate to Olympics has said Pyongyang is willing to hold talks with U.S. 
 
 The Blue House, South Korea's presidential office, reported the news during the games' closing ceremony. It did not immediately have further details. 
 
 The United States and North Korea, which have no diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war after an armistice in 1953, have been at odds for decades. In recent months the war of words between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated as the North tests nuclear missiles and Washington pushes it to disarm. 
 
 U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, is at the closing ceremony and sitting in the same box with Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Worker's Party Central Committee. They did not appear to interact when South Korean President Moon Jae-in shook hands with dignitaries at the beginning of the ceremony. 
 
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 8:30 p.m. 
 
 The athletes are marching into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium for the closing ceremony of the Winter Games 
 
 Those who won medals are wearing them. Most are waving at the crowd. 
 
 Flagbearers from all of the countries came first and are standing in a circle in the center of the stadium and waving the flags as the athletes parade in around them. 
 
 Volunteers wearing hats with the Olympic tiger mascot, Soohorang, are dancing around them. 
 
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 8:20 p.m. 
 
 A top North Korean official and U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter are in the same VIP box to watch the closing of the 2018 Winter Olympics. 
 
 Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Worker's Party Central Committee, sat behind presidential adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump, who was smiling as luminaries were introduced. She did not appear to interact with the North Korean official. 
 
 Both stood for South Korea's national anthem. 
 
 If they communicated, it would represent unusual direct contact between the White House and the upper echelons of North Korea's government. 
 
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 8:15 p.m. 
 
 South Korean President Moon Jae-in is watching the closing ceremony for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the same box as Ivanka Trump, daughter of and adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump. IOC President Thomas Bach is also in the box with them. 
 
 Moon shook their hands as he was introduced at the start of the ceremony. 
 
 Ivanka Trump is leading the U.S. delegation to the ceremony. She has spent the past two days attending events and meeting athletes. 
 
 An electric guitarist is playing surrounded by performers in traditional dress. 
 
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 8 p.m. 
 
 The closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympics is officially underway. 
 
 Athletes will march, the popular K-pop band EXO will perform, and Pyeongchang officials will officially hand over responsibility for the Winter Games to Beijing, which will host them in 2022. 
 
 A high-level delegation of officials from North Korea is expected to attend. Also in attendance will be Ivanka Trump, the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump. She's leading the U.S. delegation. 
 
 One thing that won't happen is the Russian delegation marching under its own flag. Athletes will march under the Olympic flag and in neutral uniforms as continued punishment for doping in Sochi in 2014. 
 
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 7:45 p.m. 
 
 People are filing into Pyeongchang Olympic stadium for the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. 
 
 Dancers from all over the world are entertaining the crowd and an announcer is trying to get people pumped up. It's about 33 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius,) much warmer than it was for the opening ceremony, but people are still taking advantage of packs with hand warmers, blankets and hats that were left on their seats. 
 
 Among those in attendance are the North Korean cheerleaders who have captivated the world over the past few weeks. 
 
 They filed into the Olympic Stadium a couple of hours before the ceremony got underway. Some people took selfies with them in the background. 
 
 A high-level delegation of officials from North Korea is expected to attend. Also in attendance will be Ivanka Trump, the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump. She's leading the U.S. delegation. 
 
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 7:10 p.m. 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin says the men's hockey team's overtime gold medal victory over Germany in the Pyeongchang Olympics shows the players' fighting spirit. 
 
 Putin said Sunday: "The road to the championship title was not easy." He says, "But you were able to get together, stood up against strong opponents with team spirit, character and will that demonstrated excellent technique, the ability to swiftly attack and firmly defend." 
 
 The Russian team won 4-3 on a power-play goal by Kirill Kaprizov. It's the first gold in men's hockey for a Russian team since 1992. 
 
 Russia was banned from competing under the country's flag in Pyeongchang because of a doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games. The International Olympic Committee voted not to reinstate Team Russia for Sunday night's closing ceremony. 
 
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 5:30 p.m. 
 
 Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is congratulating the men's hockey team on winning gold in the Winter Olympics. 
 
 In a message on Twitter on Sunday, Medvedev crowed: "Our hockey players -- Olympic champions! Thank you for the victory! I congratulate the team, I congratulate all of us!" 
 
 The International Olympic Committee formally banned Russia from competing under the country's flag at the Pyeongchang Olympics because of a doping scheme at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. 
 
 The men's victory over Germany in the title game came hours after the IOC voted not to reinstate Team Russia for Sunday night's closing ceremony. That means the Russians will again march under the "Olympic Athlete from Russia" name and the Olympic flag. 
 
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 5 p.m. 
 
 Russian fans and hockey players celebrating their gold medal at the Pyeongchang Games sang their country's national anthem over the top of the Olympic anthem as the Olympic flag rose to the rafters. 
 
 The men's victory came hours after the International Olympic Committee voted not to reinstate Team Russia for Sunday night's closing ceremony. That means the Russians will again march under the "Olympic Athlete from Russia" name and the Olympic flag. 
 
 The IOC formally banned Team Russia in December over a doping scheme at the 2014 Olympics but invited 168 athletes to compete under the "Olympic Athlete from Russia" name. 
 
 Defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich says players sang the Russian anthem as an expression of "freedom of speech." 
 
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 4:50 p.m. 
 
 Norway's Marit Bjoergen has closed out a remarkable Olympic career in dominant fashion, winning the gold medal in the women's 30-kilometer mass start at the Pyeongchang Games. 
 
 The 37-year-old Bjoergen finished Sunday in 1 hour, 22 minutes and 17.6 seconds — more than 1 minute, 49 seconds ahead of silver medalist Krista Parkakoski from Finland. Sweden's Stina Nilsson won bronze. 
 
 Bjoergen had plenty of time to pick up the Norwegian flag on the stretch run and wave it as she crossed the finish line to become the only Olympian to win five medals at the Pyeongchang Games. 
 
 Bjoergen finishes her career with 15 medals, leaving her as the most decorated athlete of the Winter Games of all time. 
 
 Austria's Teresa Stadlober had been in second place but accidentally took a wrong turn and finished ninth. 
 
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 4:30 p.m. 
 
 Norwegian Marit Bjoergen's lead of nearly two minutes in the 30-kilometer women's mass start at the Pyeongchang Olympics proved so big that the Austrian skier in second place couldn't see her. 
 
 In fact, Austrian Teresa Stadlober went the wrong direction on the course and got lost with about 7 kilometers remaining Sunday. 
 
 By the time Stadlober realized where she was going and got back on the course, she had lost valuable time and dropped to eighth place. That might take her out of contention for a medal. 
 
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 4:05 p.m. 
 
 A power-play goal by Kirill Kaprizov in overtime has lifted the Russians to the gold medal in men's hockey with a 4-3 win over Germany at the Pyeongchang Olympics. 
 
 It's the first gold in men's hockey for a Russian team since 1992. 
 
 Kaprizov also had three assists Sunday. He scored on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Nikita Gusev. 
 
 Gusev also had two goals and two assists. He scored his second with 55.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. 
 
 Ilya Kovalchuk had a chance to win the game 6:30 in only to have his forehand stopped by a tremendous pad save by German goalie Danny Aus Den Birken. 
 
 The Germans still go home with the best medal they've ever won in hockey: silver. 
 
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 3:30 p.m. 
 
 The men's gold medal game between the "Olympic athletes from Russia" and Germany is going to overtime. 
 
 Germany, playing in the final for the first time in the country's history, thought it had the game won when Jonas Muller scored with 3:16 left in regulation to put the Germans up 3-2. 
 
 They even got a power play when Sergei Kalinin went to the box for tripping with 2:11 left. 
 
 But the Russians pulled their goalie for the extra attacker to keep it even strength. 
 
 Nikita Gusev scored his second goal of the third period top shelf over the goalie Danny Aus Den Birken's right shoulder to tie it up and send it into overtime. 
 
 The women's gold medal game not only went to overtime but the first shootout in their history. The United States won that game 3-2 over Canada in the sixth round. 
 
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 3:10 p.m. 
 
 The last event of the Winter Games is about to get underway — the women's cross-country 30-kilometer mass start. 
 
 Sunday's race features Norway's 37-year-old Marit Bjoergen in her final Olympic competition and Sweden's Charlotte Kalla. Each is looking to become the only athlete to win five medals in the Pyeongchang Games. 
 
 Bjoergen won this event at the 2014 Sochi Games, and Norway has dominated it since 2011. 
 
 If Bjoergen reaches the podium, it would be her record 15th medal in the Winter Games overall and would give Norway its 14th overall in cross-country in Pyeongchang. That would break the Olympic record of 13 set by the then-Soviet Union in 1988. 
 
 Kalla has had a brilliant Winter Games, with one gold medal and three silver medals. 
 
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 2:50 p.m. 
 
 The South Korean minister of health and welfare has named hockey player Marissa Brandt an honorary ambassador for adoptees searching for their birth families. 
 
 Brandt played hockey for South Korea's historic combined women's team under her birth name, Park Yoonjung. She was named an honorary ambassador Sunday at a luncheon including her and two other adoptees taking part in the Olympics. 
 
 Hanna Poeschl, or Young-hye Hwang, is an intern with the Olympic Broadcasting Services, and Isaac Myers, also known as Seung-lee Choi, was an Olympic torchbearer. 
 
 Minister Neunghoo Park thanked the adoptees for taking part in the Olympics, saying they helped Korea to shine during the Winter Games. He also told them the government wants to help all adoptees following their adoptions and also with searches for their birth families. 
 
 Brandt says the entire experience has been so memorable and her goal at the Olympics was more than just winning games. Brandt says she wants to be a role model to other adoptees and also young girls wanting to play hockey. She says this gives her an opportunity to do just that. 
 
 Brandt's sister, Hannah Brandt, plays on the gold medal-winning U.S. hockey team. 
 
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 2:35 p.m. 
 
 The Russian Olympic Committee says it expects to be reinstated "in the next few days" even though the International Olympic Committee upheld its ban from the closing ceremony in Pyeongchang Games. 
 
 The ROC says, "We hope and very much count on the ROC's membership of the IOC being restored in the next few days." 
 
 The IOC has said the suspension will be lifted as soon as all the samples of Russian athletes have been processed and as long as there are no more positive tests. Two Russians have failed drug tests and have accepted disqualification from the Pyeongchang Olympics. 
 
 The ROC says, "In the light of the current situation we believe that the restoration of the rights of the ROC and all Russian athletes will be the most important result of the Olympic Games ending today." 
 
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 2 p.m. 
 
 More than 50 years after it showed its postwar recovery off to the world at the 1964 Games, Tokyo is ready for another Summer Olympics. 
 
 The Japanese capital has something else to prove at the 2020 Games. 
 
 This time Japan wants to remind the rest of the world that China and South Korea haven't left behind the first economic powerhouse in East Asia. They will use the games to showcase a clean, safe, and innovative city with cool nightlife and modern public transportation. 
 
 Organizers say the Olympics will show the nation's "soft power," showcasing technology, products and service. 
 
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 1:15 p.m. 
 
 The U.S. president's daughter and adviser says her visit to the Olympics has been "so incredibly inspiring." She's expressing gratitude at the chance to watch competitions and "be here with our allies in South Korea." 
 
 Ivanka Trump plans to attend the closing ceremony of the 2018 Pyongchang Games after two days of visiting venues and meeting American and other athletes. 
 
 Her presence there could bring her in contact with a visiting delegation from North Korea, the country in a months-long escalation of aggressive words with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. 
 
 Ivanka Trump spent part of her second day in Pyeongchang watching the U.S. team compete in the bobsled competition. She says it's been "an amazing couple of days." 
 
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 1 p.m. 
 
 A Canadian ski cross competitor, his wife and his coach accused of taking a car in front of a bar and driving it while inebriated at the Pyeongchang Olympics are apologizing for their behavior. 
 
 The Canadian Olympic Committee said Sunday that Dave Duncan, his wife, Maja, and Canadian technical coach William Raine had been detained by police Saturday and were now released. 
 
 Each has been fined. 
 
 A joint statement from the Duncans said their behavior "was not up to the standards expected of us as members of the Canadian Olympic Team or as Canadians." It did not elaborate. 
 
 Raine apologized to the vehicle owner and said, "Words are not enough to express how sorry I am. I have let my teammates, friends and my family down." 
 
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 12:25 p.m. 
 
 Germany is leaving the Pyeongchang Olympics with gold medals in all three bobsled events. 
 
 Francesco Friedrich finished off the sweep for the Germans on Sunday, driving his four-man sled to victory in the final day of the games. Won Yunjong of South Korea and Nico Walther of Germany tied for second and shared the silver. 
 
 In Pyeongchang, not only did Germany win gold in all three bobsled events — matching its feat from Turin 2006 — but also became the first country to win six sliding gold medals at a single Olympics. 
 
 The rest of the bobsled, skeleton and luge world won four golds in Pyeongchang combined; Canada, Austria, South Korea and Britain all got one. 
 
 The top U.S. driver was Codie Bascue, who placed ninth on a day where Ivanka Trump was among those in the crowd watching the last sliding event in Pyeongchang. 
 
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 12:20 p.m. 
 
 A Canadian ski cross competitor, his wife and a coach accused of taking a car in front of a bar and driving it while inebriated at the Pyeongchang Olympics have been released from jail. 
 
 A police officer at the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency says the coach was fined 5 million South Korean won, or about $4,600, for driving under the influence. The officer says the skier and his wife were each fined 1 million won, or about $930, for theft. 
 
 The officer wasn't authorized to speak to the media and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. 
 
 Police say all three were intoxicated when they were stopped early Saturday. They were released from jail sometime after 9 p.m. Saturday. They must pay the fine before leaving the country. 
 
 Canadian Olympic Committee's chief executive says they are taking the matter "very, very seriously" but can't comment until they know the results of the investigation. 
 
 Police and the committee declined to name the people involved, but the description given by police matches ski cross competitor Dave Duncan. 
 
 — Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed from Gangneung, South Korea. 
 
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 12:05 p.m. 
 
 A high-level delegation of North Korean officials has arrived in South Korea to attend the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. 
 
 The delegation is led by Kim Yong Chol, a senior North Korean party official suspected of being behind two deadly attacks on South Korea in 2010. They crossed the border in Paju around 10 a.m. Sunday local time. 
 
 Ivanka Trump, the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, will also attend the closing ceremony, but there's been no indication that there are plans for the U.S. delegation to meet the North Korean delegation. 
 
 North Korea wasn't expected to come to Pyeongchang until a last-minute announcement by Kim Jong Un on New Year's Day that he wanted to send a team. 
 
 The North Korean delegation will be in South Korea until Tuesday. 
 
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 11:40 a.m. 
 
 U.S. women's bobsledder Lauren Gibbs is going home from Pyeongchang Olympics with a silver medal and a selfie with Ivanka Trump. 
 
 Gibbs spent part of her Sunday morning watching the four-man bobsled competition with Trump, the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump. Ivanka Trump is part of the U.S. delegation in Pyeongchang for the end of the games, and has been in South Korea since Friday. 
 
 The president's daughter says that while she prefers skiing as her top winter sport, her children are more fans of bobsledding. 
 
 Gibbs wore the silver medal that she and Elana Meyers Taylor won in the women's bobsled event at Pyeongchang, and grabbed a selfie with Trump during the third heat of the men's finale Sunday. 
 
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 11:30 a.m. 
 
 The Swedish women have won the gold medal in the final match of a marathon curling festival. They beat South Korea 8-3 in nine ends to leave the "Garlic Girls" with a silver that is the hosts' first Olympic medal in the sport. 
 
 Sweden took control of the match by stealing a point in back-to-back ends — the fourth and the fifth — even though South Korea had the last-rock advantage known as the hammer. After South Korea mustered just one point in the sixth, Swedish skip Anna Hasselborg delivered a takeout on her final rock of the seventh to score three points and open a 7-2 lead. 
 
 The South Koreans picked up one point in the eighth, but when they couldn't keep the Swedes from scoring in the ninth, they conceded. 
 
 The Swedes hugged and jumped up and down on the ice. South Korean skip Kim Eun-jung, who became a folk hero with her unexpected rise to the Olympic podium, took off her iconic owlish glasses and wiped tears away from her eyes. 
 
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 11:15 a.m. 
 
 The International Olympic Committee has upheld its ban of Russia from the Pyeongchang Olympics, denying the country the chance to march into the closing ceremony under its own flag. 
 
 The vote came Sunday just hours before the closing ceremony. 
 
 Russia was banned from these Winter Games after a massive doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but the IOC had left open the possibility of reinstatement before the start of the closing ceremony. 
 
 However, two of the more than 160 athletes competing as Olympic Athletes from Russia tested positive for banned substances, including a curler who had to forfeit his bronze medal. That's half of the four doping cases reported so far at this year's Olympics. 
 
 The positive tests come after the IOC had said Russian athletes had been "rigorously tested" months before the games — and during them. 
 
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 More AP Olympic coverage: https://wintergames.ap.org ||||| Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong was seated in the row behind US Vice-President Mike Pence at the opening ceremony 
 
 US Vice-President Mike Pence has skipped a dinner at which he was due to share a table with North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam. 
 
 Mr Pence briefly encountered Mr Kim but they tried to avoid directly facing each other, Yonhap news agency reports. 
 
 Later South Korean President Moon Jae-in shook hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. 
 
 The Games are taking place amid tension over North Korea's nuclear programme. 
 
 Mr Yong-nam did briefly meet with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the dinner. According to a UN spokesperson, Mr Guterres reiterated a hope for "peaceful denuclearisation" on the peninsula. 
 
 What happened at the dinner? 
 
 Mr Pence and Kim Yong-nam were being hosted by President Moon before the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang. 
 
 But the US vice-president left the reception venue after five minutes, South Korea's Yonhap said. 
 
 While Mr Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe both shook hands with Mr Kim, Mr Pence did not, South Korean officials said. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What we've seen of Kim Yo-jong from North Korean media 
 
 At the event Mr Moon said he hoped the Winter Olympics would be remembered as the "day peace began". He is due to meet the North Korean delegation for talks on Saturday according to Yonhap. 
 
 At the opening ceremony, Mr Pence, Kim Yo-jong and Kim Yong-nam were seated in close proximity to each other. 
 
 Mr Pence has brought to South Korea as a guest Fred Warmbier, the father of a young American who died after being released from prison in North Korea. 
 
 Who is Kim Yo-jong? 
 
 The highest profile member of the North Korean delegation to the Games, she is the first immediate member of the North's ruling family to visit the South since the 1950-1953 Korean war. 
 
 Ms Kim, who is said to be very close to her brother, was promoted to the North's powerful politburo last year. 
 
 She is on a US sanctions list over alleged links to human rights abuses in North Korea. 
 
 Ms Kim is thought to be about 30 years old, around four years younger than her brother. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption North Korea's Ms Kim shook hands with South Korea's Mr Moon at the opening ceremony 
 
 Her visit is being seen as a sign that Kim Jong-un is serious about improving ties with the South, the BBC's South Korea correspondent Laura Bicker reports. 
 
 She adds that some are also speculating that Ms Kim might be bringing a message from her brother. 
 
 How will the Koreas compete at the Games? 
 
 Athletes from both North and South Korea marched under one flag at the opening ceremony, bringing spectators to their feet. 
 
 They are also fielding a joint women's ice hockey team. 
 
 Alongside 22 athletes, Pyongyang has sent more than 400 delegates to the Games, including a team of cheerleaders and an orchestra. 
 
 Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption North and South Korean athletes marched under one flag at the opening ceremony 
 
 However the opening ceremony was not shown on North Korean state TV, which was broadcasting patriotic songs and slogans celebrating industry and the armed forces. 
 
 Have relations warmed? 
 
 Experts have cautioned that the current burst of sports diplomacy does not put an end to underlying regional tensions. 
 
 On Thursday North Korea had held a military parade that was originally scheduled for April but was brought forward. 
 
 Nevertheless, 2018 has got the countries off on an improved footing. 
 
 Kim Jong-un surprised many in his televised new-year speech, when - amid threats against the US - he expressed support for the Winter Olympics and a wish to "melt the frozen North-South relations". 
 
 The South had already said the North would be welcome to send a delegation, but few believed it would happen. 
 
 Later in January, a communications hotline was reinstated between the two countries, whose authorities then met for the first high-level talks in two years. 
 
 The Korean peninsula has been divided since the 1950-53 war and the two sides have never signed a peace treaty. ||||| CLOSE Here are the best photos for the 11th day of action at the Winter Olympic games. USA TODAY Sports 
 
 North Korea's Jong Kwang Bom had a rough day on the ice. (Photo: ARIS MESSINIS, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 GANGNEUNG, South Korea – As days at the Winter Olympics go, speedskater Jong Kwang Bom didn’t have the best one. It’s presumably not easy being part of the North Korean contingent to have ventured here to the enemy (kind of) South on the orders of divine leader Kim Jong Un, in unfamiliar surroundings and living among visitors from nasty capitalist countries. 
 
 However, it had all looked pretty good for Jong, a 17-year-old hailing from the mysterious wonderland of Pyongyang. He had an inside start position for the most rapid of short-track races, the 500 meters. North Korea’s “army of beauties” cheer squad was in the stands, still waving and cheering and looking immaculate more than two weeks into this thing. 
 
 And then the gun went off to start heat seven. And then Jong took a couple of steps. And then … he face-planted onto the ice. As he fell, he reached up and, in a feat of desperation or maybe just looking for a dramatic ending to the whole thing, appeared to try to grab the skate of the Japanese skater in front of him. 
 
 The athlete biographies for the North Korean team are hilariously sparse. According to information provided to the IOC by the North Korean officials, Jong started racing as a young boy with his friends, trains at a university sports club and has a natural talent for his sport. He’s male, and he stands 5 feet 9. That’s it. 
 
 MORE: X Games athletes ring up U.S. medals and deserve your respect, attention 
 
 MORE: Costume designers feeling exposed after figure skating wardrobe malfunctions 
 
 It didn’t look like he had much natural talent here. After the race was restarted following the initial crash, he didn’t last much longer the second time around, colliding with Japan’s Ryosuke Sakazume again and falling once more. Although he eventually got to his feet and skated slowly around to complete the four-and-a-half laps, in reality, his Olympics racing experience lasted about three combined seconds. Hopefully, the food in the Athletes’ Village is good. 
 
 As he emerged in the interview zone afterward, Jong wore the kind of look you’d expect from someone who might have to go home and explain to a military regime with nuclear weapons why you performed so badly while representing your country. 
 
 Man, was he bad. We don’t know much about the North, but hopefully he won’t get punished. And members of the Olympic family from other countries rallied around him, kind of. 
 
 Sakazume might have a future as a politician. He insisted he didn’t think Jong had tried to pull him down by reaching for his skate – “a reflex” -- although the coy grin on his face suggested otherwise. 
 
 Sakazume’s coach Jonathan Guilmette claimed it wasn’t that unusual for racers to fall on their faces at the start of the 500 as they seek to launch explosively off the line. “It happens at least once every World Cup event,” Guilmette said. 
 
 Thomas Hong, the American skater whose hopes of progressing to the quarterfinals ended when Jong crashed in front of him on the restart, was diplomatic too. “It did affect me because I was just too close,” Hong said. “But unpredictability and short track just go hand-in-hand.” 
 
 Jong didn’t have much to say -- none of the North Koreans do, from the skiers to the members of the unified hockey team. When asked for comment, Jong turned his head the other way and kept walking. 
 
 It would be great to have a conversation with a North Korean athlete, a real one, to see what they’re thinking and, more than anything, what they think of the rest of the world. 
 
 But this wasn’t the day for that, if for no other reason than it was a rough day for Jong, made rougher by the fact that everyone was watching.
– Well that was fun. Team USA made a splash at the opening ceremonies of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea on Friday, marching in the Parade of Nations to "Gangnam Style," the 2012 hit from Korean artist PSY. (See a clip here.) Though several other countries walked to the same tune, American athletes stood out in other ways. For one, USA's 242 athletes make up the largest contingent "for any country at any Winter Games," reports the New York Times. For another, they wore what some thought were "horrible" gloves. Despite the cold, the athletes hardly needed them since their Ralph Lauren jackets were heated, per USA Today, which shows off photos of other athletes who stood out. (Kim Jong Un's sister is there.)