2018 WINTER OLYMPICS

When: Feb. 9-25, 2018

Where: Pyeongchang, South Korea

Who: 2,800 athletes from 95 countries

The program: The Pyeongchang Games include 102 medal events in 15 sports disciplines. New events include big air snowboard, mass start speedskating, mixed doubles curling and a team competition in Alpine skiing. Snowboarding's parallel slalom event has been discontinued.

About Pyeongchang: A city of 43,000 in the mountainous province of Gangwon, Pyeongchang sits 80 miles east of Seoul, South Korea's capital, near the country's eastern coastline. The average daytime temperature in February is 33-35 degrees, with nighttime lows around 17 degrees. The region is on Korea Standard Time, 15 hours ahead of Central Standard Time.

The venues: The Pyeongchang Games will be a compact Olympics, with all venues in four areas located within 30 minutes of each other. Alpensia Sports Park will host the opening and closing ceremonies, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, bobsled, luge, skeleton, snowboarding big air and the slalom and giant slalom disciplines in Alpine skiing. Other venues in the mountain cluster are Bokwang Snow Park (freestyle skiing, snowboarding) and Jeongseon Alpine Centre (downhill, super-G and combined). The coastal cluster, in the city of Gangneung, includes Gangneung Olympic Park (hockey, figure skating, short-track and long-track speedskating, curling).

Pyeongchang vs. PyeongChang: The city's name is spelled with a lowercase c. But local Olympic officials — concerned that it might be confused with Pyongyang, the capital of its unfriendly neighbor, North Korea — have capitalized the 'C' In official Olympic logos and signs.

What's next: The Paralympics will be held in Pyeongchang from March 9-18, 2018. The 2018 Winter Games kick off a run of three Olympic Games in Asia, with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

For more information: www.pyeongchang2018.com, www.teamusa.org

RACHEL BLOUNT