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Brutal Weather and Cyber Attack Plague Winter Olympics, but U.S. Team Still Scores Some Gold

News Staff : Feb 13, 2018
CBN News

Olympic gold medalist Shawn White came out on top during his qualifying runs in the men's half pipe, setting the stage for a showdown in the finals Wednesday.

airlift[CBN News] You would expect it to be cold at the Winter Olympics, but conditions in Pyeongchang, South Korea have been downright brutal. Despite the weather, there's still been some good news for the U.S. team as Chloe Kim won the third gold medal of this year's games for America. (Photo: Chloe Kim/via SI.com)

Athletes and spectators have been hit with howling winds and extreme cold, even dipping below zero degrees Fahrenheit.

The weather has been so bad some events have even been postponed as wind and ice pellets made for dangerous conditions for ski jumpers and snowboarders.

Team USA has been wearing battery powered heated jackets, but Olympic workers, fans, and media attending indoor events have even been hit by the cold as they've had to wait in the cold for transportation to and from venues.

Howling winds and frigid temperatures have also forced some events to be rescheduled, a big inconvenience for organizers.

"It's quite a headache getting all the different sports and so on to run in a different way, but obviously we would never take a decision that would put in jeopardy the safety of the athletes," said International Olympics Committee spokesman Mark Adams.

And as if the freezing weather weren't bad enough, officials confirm that the official Winter Olympics website was taken offline after being hit by a cyber-attack.

Television and internet systems at the games were disrupted just before the beginning of Friday's opening ceremony.

According to Reuters, cyber security experts say Russian hackers may have been planning attacks on the Olympics in retaliation for being excluded from the games in South Korea.

Meanwhile, the US is racking up medals at the games.

Chloe Kim delivered big at her first Olympics, winning gold in the women's snowboard half-pipe Tuesday.

On her final run, the 17-year-old from southern California took a victory lap landing back to back 1080's.

"I'd hate to go home with the gold medal knowing that I could have done better, so I think that the adrenaline was just for myself," said Kim.

Olympic gold medalist Shawn White came out on top during his qualifying runs in the men's half pipe, setting the stage for a showdown in the finals Wednesday.

So far the US has three gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals, landing in fifth place overall. Norway is in first.