Let the Games Begin: Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Start Prior to Opening Ceremony

While the opening ceremony is still a day away, the Olympic Games have already started in Pyeongchang, South Korea with mixed doubles curling, a sport which is making its Olympic debut.

The 18 days of the Winter Olympic competition began on Thursday at the Gangneung Curling Center, they started with the first ever mixed doubles curling in Olympic history.

There were four games played simultaneously; one was between a Russian husband-and-wife team competing against a US team. The Russians, 2016 world champions Aleksander Krushelnitskiy and Anastasia Bryzgalova, lost the opening round to the US.

2/8 Curling Mixed Doubles Round Robin Session 1
2/8 컬링 – 믹스더블 예선 세션 3 경기 결과

🇺🇸USA 9 vs 3 OAR
🇨🇦CAN 6 vs 9 NOR🇳🇴
🇰🇷KOR 9 vs 4 FIN🇫🇮
🇨🇳CHN 5 vs 7 SUI🇨🇭

Congratulations! 축하합니다! pic.twitter.com/reDuzJWop2

— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) 8 февраля 2018 г.

Get a sneak peek at the #Gangneung Curling Centre. The site of the first official event of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. #2018평창 #강릉컬링센터! 지금 이곳에서 2018 평창의 공식 경기가 시작됐습니다!!!🎉🎉🎉#PyeongChang2018 #Start #Curling #2018평창 #경기시작 pic.twitter.com/nIPTkz1k0j

— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) 8 февраля 2018 г.

The Russian team wore neutral uniforms with no national insignia with an Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR) emblem. The International Olympic Committee has forced Russian athletes to compete as OAR's as punishment for doping offenses at the 2014 Sochi Games.

READ MORE: Black Smoke Seen Near S Korean Olympic Park as Fire Breaks Out (PHOTOS)

Apart from curling, men's individual ski jumping qualifications also began on February 8. The official opening ceremony will take place on Friday as the Olympic Cauldron is lit with the official flame. The Games will end on the 25th of February with the closing ceremony.