Olympic Games ceremony a standard 18-event program was established. In order to open a Games in ancient Greece the organizers would hold an Inauguration Festival. This was followed by a ceremony in which athletes took an oath of sportsmanship. The first competition, an artistic competition of trumpeters and heralds, concluded the opening festivities. The Olympic opening ceremonies represent the official commencement of an Olympic Games. In recent Olympics, athletic competition began prior to the opening ceremonies. For example, the football competitions for both men and women at the 2008 Summer Olympics began two days prior to the opening ceremonies. The 2014 Winter Olympics
Olympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics IIHF considers this victory to be Russia's second gold medal in the Olympics, as they also attributed the 1992 Unified Team gold medal to Russia. However, the IOC does not attribute either of these results to Russia. Russia women's national ice hockey team qualified by finishing 4th in the 2016 IIHF World Ranking. Based on the results from the World Cups during the 2017–18 Luge World Cup season, Russia qualified 8 sleds (10 athletes). However, only 8 athletes (7 men and 1 woman) are set to join the pool of Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) after the accreditation commission of