Winter Olympics 2018 - USA Beats Russia at Curling

And we’re off. Even though the opening ceremony is still a day away, the first event of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang has started, and with a victory for the US against Russia no less.

Yes, it was in the sport of mixed curling (you know, curling, the sport that you watch once every four years unless you’re Canadian) where American brother and sister Matt and Becca Hamilton tore into the husband-and-wife team of Aleksandr Krushelnitckii and Anastasia Bryzgalova with a score of 9-3 in the first PyeongChang Games result (which is also an Olympic history for the debut event).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The first result of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PyeongChang2018?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PyeongChang2018</a> is in from the Gangneung Curling Centre! <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TeamUSA</a> have defeated the Olympic Athletes of Russia in the first Round Robin Session of <a href="https://twitter.com/worldcurling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@worldcurling</a> Mixed Doubles, 9 - 3. <a href="https://t.co/TIeBm0lSBk">pic.twitter.com/TIeBm0lSBk</a></p>&mdash; Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) <a href="https://twitter.com/olympicchannel/status/961411726666280960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2018</a></blockquote>

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As most of the Russian delegation has been banned from entering under their own flag due to doping violations, the husband-and-wife team started under the Olympic flag.

Mr. Matt Hamilton of Team USA commented: “I’m sure they are a little bit bummed they don’t get to wear a Russian flag.”

“But that’s life. You’ve got to take what you are given. At least they are at the Olympics.”

“We know there were some issues with that same organization and doping. But that doesn’t add any motivation.”

“The motivation is enough to win a gold medal. No need to add anything on top of that.”

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="ko" dir="ltr">Get a sneak peek at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gangneung?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gangneung</a> Curling Centre. The site of the first official event of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2018%ED%8F%89%EC%B0%BD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2018평창</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%EA%B0%95%EB%A6%89%EC%BB%AC%EB%A7%81%EC%84%BC%ED%84%B0?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#강릉컬링센터</a>! 지금 이곳에서 2018 평창의 공식 경기가 시작됐습니다!!!🎉🎉🎉<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PyeongChang2018?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PyeongChang2018</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Start?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Start</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Curling?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Curling</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2018%ED%8F%89%EC%B0%BD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2018평창</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%EA%B2%BD%EA%B8%B0%EC%8B%9C%EC%9E%91?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#경기시작</a> <a href="https://t.co/nIPTkz1k0j">pic.twitter.com/nIPTkz1k0j</a></p>&mdash; PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) <a href="https://twitter.com/pyeongchang2018/status/961392655010750464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Before the much-hyped USA-Russia match up, the Hamiltons siblings tried to play down any political rivalry, with Ms. Becca Hamilton saying that it was “just a name change.”

“We played them at the worlds last year. Same people.”

Source:

https://nypost.com/2018/02/07/olympics-have-started-and-the-us-routed-the-russians/