Yuna Kim, South Korea’s popular figure skating gold medallist, lit the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony of the 2018 winter games in Pyeongchang. The event was as curious as Kim was serene. Skating to a mound of icicles, she touched these with an Olympic torch and up spiralled a bizarre column of golden rings. This theatrical deus ex machina mounted up to what looked like a giant onggi – a traditional Korean cooking pot – and set this latest in a long line of Olympic cauldrons triumphantly ablaze.
When the flame was lit a dozen doves were barbecued in front of millions of viewers
Some observers found this spectacle a thing of wonder. There were those in the foreign press and social media who said it was comically phallic. Others thought it ineffably funny. Whatever one’s take on this spellbinding ritual, there is little doubt that the lighting of the Olympic cauldron has become a highly theatrical and even pantomime element in the opening ceremonies of summer and winter games.
Source : BBC
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