North Korea has announced its intention to send athletes, officials and even cheerleaders to the Winter Olympics in neighbouring South Korea and it’s a decision with implications well beyond the sporting arena.
No one should need telling of the unprecedented tension in the region because of the North’s testing and advancement of its nuclear weapons programme. North Korea is the subject of crippling United Nations sanctions which are being enforced more strictly now than ever before. However, it’s almost impossible to discover what effect those sanctions are having on one of the world’s most insular states. Money is still being found to fund their race to arms, though possibly at the expense of the general population. But a duel on the ice rink doesn’t carry the same threat as a nuclear conflict and Pyongyang’s offer to allow athletes to cross the border is an unexpected step back from the brink and suggests a thawing of relations with South Korea, though nothing is ever as it seems concerning the North and its enigmatic leader Kim Jong Un.
South Korea wants to go a step further and have athletes from both nations marching together at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang and South Korea’s population would like nothing more than talks aimed at reunification on the Korean peninsula, but not if Kim Jong Un and his regime were in charge.
Unibet are one of the few bookmakers to so far offer odds on which nation will collect most gold medals at Pyeongchang. Competition gets underway on February 9 and the Olympic Flame is already doing the rounds in towns, cities and villages across South Korea. More than 200 countries can send athletes to this year’s Winter Olympics, but not Russia who are still banned because the IOC is still unconvinced that state-sponsored use of illegal substances has been curtailed.
Offering 6/1, Unibet are best odds on the USA winning most gold medals in South Korea. They price up Canada at 14/1 and have the host nation at 30/1. Norway are a best 8/5 with William Hill, who have Germany at 13/8.
Latest Odds for which Nation to Win Most Gold Medals at the Winter Olympics
Norway 8/5, Germany 13/8, USA 6/1, Canada 14/1, Netherlands 20/1, South Korea 30/1, France 33/1, Austria 60/1, China, Sweden and Switzerland 75/1
