Winless Joint Korean Hockey Team Scores Symbolic Victory

 

The Olympic women’s hockey team made up of players from North and South Korea has ended its historic run at the Winter Games.

Team Korea lost to Sweden 6-1 Tuesday in its last game in PyeongChang, South Korea. The joint¹ team included 23 players from South Korea and 12 from the North.

It was the fifth straight loss for the unified² Korean team during the 2018 Olympics. Although the team lacked wins on the ice, many Olympic watchers felt the players still won a symbolic³ victory.

Thousands of people watched the team’s final performance against Sweden. After the competition, they cheered for the Koreans one last time. Many also waved Korean unification flags as a sign of support. Before leaving the ice, the team skated around Kwandong Hockey Centre to thank supporters.

South Korean forward Kim Heewon wiped away tears as she and her teammates waved to cheering fans.

Randi Heesoo Griffin is an American hockey player whose mother is Korean. She has played with the South Korean team and was a member of the joint Korean Olympic team. She said it was a “special” experience getting to know the North Korean players, and that they would be missed by the South Korean team.

But she said it may be difficult keeping in touch. “I mean, none of them have Facebook, so it might be hard,” Griffin said. “But there were definitely bonds that were formed. And I think if we end up playing against each other again - South Korea vs. North Korea - there’s definitely going to be some hugs and some smiles.”

Women’s hockey was the only sport at the 2018 Olympics with a team made up of players from both Koreas. The two nations have remained technically⁴ at war since a truce⁵ was declared in the 1950-53 Korean conflict.

The two governments bar their citizens from visiting each other’s country and exchanging phone calls, letters and emails.

Officials from both Koreas made the decision to create a joint Korean team just days before the PyeongChang Games began. The decision came during a last-minute attempt to improve ties after a year of rising nuclear tensions led to fears of possible war on the Korean Peninsula.

The team’s coach, Sarah Murray, is a Canadian citizen. She said that, since the decision to add the North Koreans came so suddenly, the combined team had very few chances to practice.

“With everything that happened to them, prior to the Olympics, for them to come together like this and compete like this in the Olympics, it’s remarkable⁶,” Murray said Tuesday.

Before the team formed, some people questioned whether the North and South Korean players would work well together. But the team was seen getting along well during the competition.

The two Koreas had held talks in the past to possibly form joint teams for several Olympics, but no agreements were ever made. The fact that it finally happened in 2018 became a big story in the media coverage⁷ of the Games.

But it was not the first time in history that countries divided by war teamed up on joint Olympic teams.

East Germany and West Germany formed unified Olympic teams beginning in 1956.

During this period after World War II, there was a lot of mistrust between the two German states. West Germany was a democracy with support from the United States and Western Europe. East Germany had a Communist form of government and was allied⁸ with Russia and other East European nations.

After the two sides agreed to compete together at the Olympics in 1956, the head of the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, declared a political victory. “We have obtained in the field of sport what politicians have failed to achieve so far,” IOC president Avery Brundage said.

But several disputes regarding details of the joint team proved difficult to resolve. These included differences over a unified flag and debate about which country’s national anthem⁹ to use. Eventually, the IOC helped the two sides reach agreement on those issues.

Later, the team faced issues when the United States refused to approve visas for several East German team members seeking to compete in the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. At the time, the U.S. did not have diplomatic relations with East Germany.

The building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 complicated the East-West German relationship. West Germany began denying visas to East German Olympians and West German athletes were not permitted to travel to the East.

The two Germanys competed together for the last time at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Then in 1968, East Germany and West Germany began sending separate teams to the Olympics after the IOC recognized the East’s national Olympic committee.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

symbolic – adj. expressing or representing an idea or quality without using words

skate – v. to move or glide¹¹ over a surface on skates

bond – n. something shared between people or groups that forms a connection between them

hug – n. the putting of your arms around someone and holding them tightly

smile – n. a happy or friendly expression in which the corners of a person’s mouth curve up

remarkable – adj. unusual or surprising

achieve – v. to succeed in doing something, usually by working hard

national anthem – n. song that praises a country and that is officially accepted as that nation's song

complicate¹⁰ – v. make something more difficult to deal with or understand

tears – n. drops of clear, salty liquid secreted¹² from glands¹³ in a person's eye when they cry or when the eye is irritated.

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

6 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

9 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

10 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

11 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

12 secreted   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. 胰岛素是胰腺分泌的。
• He secreted his winnings in a drawer. 他把赢来的钱藏在抽届里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 glands   

n.腺( gland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a snake's poison glands 蛇的毒腺
• the sebaceous glands in the skin 皮脂腺