The long awaited 2018 Winter Olympics have finally begun in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It is still very early in this year’s games, but already it has been eventful. The Koreas are seemingly getting along, for now. The United States barely cracks the top five in medal count, behind countries like Canada, Netherlands and Norway. Olympic veterans like Lindsey Vonn are having one last hurrah while young olympians like Redmond Gerard are building their Olympic legacies already as rookies to the games.

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Despite numerous political and social tensions between the two nations, North Korea and South Korea are seemingly getting along swimmingly at this year’s games. Athletes from the two nations stood side by side, under one delegation (the Republic of Korea), in the opening ceremony this past Saturday. This was the first time the two nations have been united under one delegation at a sporting event such as the Winter Olympics since 2007, when they marched together at the Asian Winter Games. Korea has additionally made history, as its first ever unified women’s hockey team took on Switzerland on Saturday. This was one of the first events of the games, and marked a key point in the sporting and diplomatic relations between the two countries. In a comment made to CNN, korean public servant Park Young-sun remarked “It was a great lesson for my children. They learned that winning isn't everything and you can get more cheers for trying to overcome differences." While the team may not have won on the ice, they have obtained victory in diplomacy, in the eyes of many. Not only are the Koreas cooperating on the ice and snow, but diplomatic representatives from the two countries have continually interacted behind the scenes. Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong have been welcomed with open arms into attending the games. In addition, Jong has attended a banquet with South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, and has been spotted chatting with other South Korean diplomats in the stands. As of Monday, though, the North Korean delegation returned home, leaving some burning questions in the minds of many. Regardless, many feel there was diplomatic progress made between the North Korea and South Korea.

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As countries compete for athletic supremacy at this year’s games, certain surprise nations have found themselves on top thus far, while others have gotten off to a rocky start. The aforementioned Korean team, as of Monday morning, has one medal, that being a gold medal from Hyojun Lim in men’s 1,500 meter speed skating. Norway leads the total medal count thus far with nine total medals, with their two golds coming in the women’s normal hill ski jumping and men’s 15 km + 15 km skiathlon cross country. Germany, Netherlands and Canada find themselves in a three way tie for second in the medal standings with seven apiece. Germany holds the most gold medals of any country thus far with four, those being in men’s and women’s biathlon sprints and pursuits as well as a gold in the normal hill ski jumping.

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Our own United States has four total medals thus far: two golds and one each of silver and bronze. Both golds have come from men’s and women’s snowboarding events, with 17-year old Gerard being the youngest American snowboarder to win a medal at a Winter Games. Jamie Anderson picked up the US’ second gold medal with a dominant run in the women’s slopestyle snowboard.

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Other athletes have come to the forefront of this years’ games, both from the United States and elsewhere. Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier and Netherlands’ Ireen Wust are the lone multi-medalists, as of Monday morning. Dahlmeier has secured two gold medals, while Wust has one gold and one silver. All medalists in the men’s 15 km + 15 km skiathlon were from Norway, and these men were Simen Hegstad Krueger, Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Hans Christer Holund, respectively. Just as well, all three medalists in the women’s 3,000 meter speed skating event, those being Carlijn Achtereekte, Wust and Antoinette De Jong, represented Netherlands. As mentioned, Gerard of the US won gold and is looking to be one of the top American olympic athletes of the future.

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One athlete to keep an eye out for is Vonn, who is returning to the games for the fourth time. She will be competing in downhill, super-G and combined skiing events this year. Despite her age, Vonn feels confident in her chances to win gold this year. She stated in a press conference on Friday “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs since Vancouver, but I feel like I’m coming into these Olympics on a hot streak. I am skiing exceptionally well; I have a lot of confidence.”

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Last but not least, men’s hockey is starting up soon, while US women’s hockey continues to progress through preliminaries, defeating Finland 3-1 over the weekend. The US is hoping for another “Miracle on Ice”, as no NHL players have been allowed in the games.