Opening Ceremony to Feature Cold Weather

Opening Ceremony to Feature Cold Weather

[Sports Wide]

 [Anchor]

 The opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics is set to take place in an open-air stadium. The attendees will have to brave the biting winds that come in from Daegwallyeong, an area known for cold weather in South Korea.

 The Korea Meteorological Administration expects the temperature on the day of the opening ceremony to go up slightly, but it still asked for thorough preparations for the extreme cold.

 Park Ji-eun has more.

 [Reporter]

 This is a video made by the PyeongChang Olympic steering committee showing how to prepare for the icy weather at the opening ceremony.

 The opening ceremony will be held in a roofless open-air stadium.

 Concerns are mounting that the opening ceremony on Friday will be held amidst the freezing cold.

 Many spectators who attended Saturday's rehearsal for the opening ceremony complained of the extreme cold.

 During the rehearsal, the temperature was -14 C, and it dropped to -22 C when including the wind chill factor.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecasts that it will be -5 C and the wind chill temperature will be -10 C during the opening ceremony Friday night.

 "It will be cold. It's the middle of the winter, and the temperature is already at -5 C with the wind chill at -10 C ... We all need to make thorough preparations."

 Athletes are also alarmed that the freezing weather may affect their performance.

 The organizers plan to provide heating packs and hats for athletes and have installed heated tents to keep them warm at the ceremony.

 The IOC also made transportation arrangements for after the athletes walk out at the opening ceremony.

 But some athletes who have already experienced the frigid winds decided to stay at the athletes' village instead of attending the opening ceremony.

 Park Ji-eun reporting for Yonhap News TV from PyeongChang.