Four days ago, the 2018 Winter Olympics began in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Events ranging from ice hockey and basketball to snowboarding and curling allows the average person whose not usually a sports fan to gain a keen interest in the different events.

The Olympics also give competing athletes a chance to try and push real-life problems like terrorism and school-shootings, the most recent one having occurred just yesterday in Florida, aside for a few days in an attempt to build up their respective countries confidence and win a few medals.

Two of my favorite events so far have been the luge and skeleton runs because the athletes who participate are pretty much much daredevils, cranking down solid ice courses on both their backs(luge) feet first and head first on their stomachs in the skeleton.  The question that I’ve asked myself time and again is this: how much protection would the helmets that the  athletes wear really be, especially for those doing the skeleton runs. As far as I know, there haven’t been any terrible wipe-outs in these events yet but, for the skeleton event especially, it appears that those doing this event are risking their lives. I guess that is why they probably sacrificed a great deal of their time to become as good as they now are, having reached the Olympics and all.

Reaching speeds of up to 70 miles per hour, it’s obvious that all those competing in these events get quite a rush from the speed and uncertainty that each of their runs provide them. Though there are plenty of other events to watch, I’ve only found the previously mentioned events worth watching.

In closing, I just wanted to send prayers out to both the students at the high school in Parkland(FL) where the shooting occurred and to the parents of the 17 victims who were killed.