By Lyudmila Mikheesku

Most Russians are interested in the Olympic Games, whether they're held in the summer or the winter.

According to a survey, almost 80 percent of the Russian population watches the Olympic Games on TV. Russians seems to like winter sports more, maybe because it's a cold country.

In Russia, soccer, a summer sport, and ice hockey, a winter sport, are the most popular. Other winter games, such as the biathlon, figure skating and skiing, are also on the list. It's a matter of course that Russians look forward to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and that they keep their eyes on the designs of the official mascots and the Olympic medals.

There's one more reason why Russians are especially excited about next year’s Winter Games.

Russian sports fans are very enthusiastic for the biathlon. A Russian sports writer wrote that Russian athletes are part of the Korean national biathlon team. There was even an article titled “Koreans got even with Viktor Ahn.” It means that, just as in the case of the now-Russian athlete Viktor Ahn, formerly Korean short-track speed-skater Ahn Hyun-soo, many Russia-born biathletes will be representing Team Korea. Such a situation has aroused Russian’s interest in the upcoming Winter Games.

Russian sports fans have different opinions about those athletes. Some think that even if they are part of Team Korea, they are Russian-born and they should support the Korean national team. Some believe that they should not support Russian athletes representing Korea. The most intriguing matter is how much the Russian-born biathletes will contribute to Team Korea.

However, there are people in Russia who are anticipating the PyeongChang Winter Games even more than the biathlon fans.

They are the Russian volunteers who will be working for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games. I know a number of people who plan to volunteer at the upcoming Winter Games. I asked them why they want to go to PyeongChang, and they said, “It’s an important sporting event in which we want to take part.” Some added that, “It’s rare for Asian countries to host Olympic Games. It’s very special and we have greater expectations for it.” When I said that it will be very strenuous because Pyeongchang is so far from Moscow, they said, “That’s not what we fear. We just hope that those in charge of the volunteers promptly set the schedule.” They said that, “The longer we wait, the higher the airfare goes.” Some said that they were worried about North Korean issues, too.

So are many Russians. Some people cancelled their plans to go to Pyeongchang to watch the games because they didn't want to take the risk. According to the news, some people in other European countries feel the same way, not just in Russia. People repeatedly say that sports and politics are separate matters. However, it could be difficult to separate sports from politics. Korean government authorities say that they are certain that there will be no problem and the Games will go peacefully. I hope everything goes well for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games.

Lyudmila Mikheesku is a photo editor at the Russian media company Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Translated by Kim Young Shin, Korea.net Staff Writer.