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IPFS News Link • Olympic Winter Games South Korea 2018

Coldest Olympics in history? PyeongChang organizers break out the hats and blankets.

• https://www.washingtonpost.com, By Chelsea Janes

"I have tried this blanket on my lap," he declared, his message translated from Korean by an interpreter. "And I think this blanket will work in quite cold weather."

He wasn't finished. He then pulled a red knit cap over his head.

"You can cover your ears with this hat," he said, providing what probably wasn't a necessary demonstration. "If you wear it like this, you can endure the cold."

The blanket and beanie are part of a kit that will be distributed to spectators at Friday night's Opening Ceremonies, which will be conducted in an open-air stadium despite the biting cold and howling winds. The kit will also contain hot-packs for sitting on and for hands and feet, as well as a poncho.

Further, Olympic organizers have also installed 40 large heaters and 18 shelters at the stadium. But rehearsals have raised new concerns.

On Feb. 3, during a dry run for the ceremonies, security scanning machines stopped working because of the cold, leading to some checks being skipped. The credit card readers also froze up, a problem for Visa, an official sponsor.


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