Koreas may field a joint women's hockey team at Olympics

Sport

Koreas may field a joint women's hockey team at Olympics

2018-01-16 09:57 Last Updated At：11:33

North and South Korea want to field a joint women's hockey team at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and they have relayed their position to the International Olympic Committee, officials in Seoul said Monday.

A joint team at the games in South Korea would require IOC approval. But if realized, it would be the Koreas' first unified Olympic team, leaving a major mark in their sports diplomacy that often mirrors their rocky political ties.

South Korean sports ministry spokesman Hwang Seong Un said the two Koreas have been discussing the make-up of a unified women's hockey team since last year when the North's IOC representative, Chang Ung, visited South Korea along with his country's taekwondo demonstration team.

Hwang said the two Koreas later agreed in principle to form a joint women's hockey team and informed the IOC about that. He said the matter would be discussed Saturday when officials from the two Koreas and the IOC meet at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, according to South Korea's sports ministry.

The two Koreas previously sent a joint team to major international sports events only twice, both in 1991. One event was the world table tennis championships in Chiba, Japan, and the other was soccer's World Youth Championship in Portugal. During an era of detente in the 2000s, their athletes marched together under a "unification flag" depicting their peninsula during the opening and closing ceremonies of nine international sports events, including the Olympics and Asian Games, but they failed to produce a joint team again.

The latest reconciliation mood flared after North Korea agreed last week to send a delegation of officials, athletes, cheerleaders, journalists and an art troupe to the Winter Olympics in a major reconciliatory gesture after a year of tension over its expanding nuclear program. Critics say the North may aim to divide Seoul and Washington as a way to weaken U.S.-led international pressures and sanctions on the country.

The South Korean government, led by liberal President Moon Jae-in, wants to use the Olympics as a chance to improve its long-strained ties with North Korea and help ease the nuclear standoff. Aside from the joint hockey team, the Moon government also wants to resume a joint march at the Olympics in Pyeongchang.

South Korean Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan told lawmakers Monday that the two Koreas would parade under a "unification flag" during the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Games if they conduct a joint march. He said a joint march also requires an IOC endorsement and that it'll be also discussed during the upcoming IOC meeting.

North Korea is weak in winter sports, and two of its figure skaters, Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik, earlier became the only North Korean athletes to qualify for the games before the North missed a confirmation deadline. The International Olympic Committee recently said it has "kept the door open" for North Korea to take part in the games.

Do said South Korea wants the Olympic hockey team roster to be expanded to embrace North Korean players, rather than a unified squad with an equal representation from both Koreas which would require some South Korean athletes to be eliminated.

Do said South Korea isn't pushing for a joint Korean team in other sports events. South Korean media speculate up to about 10 North Korean athletes could come to Pyeongchang if the IOC gives additional quota to the two figure skaters and six to eight other female hockey players.

North Korea boycotted the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics, both held in Seoul, amid Cold War rivalry. One year before the 1988 Games, a South Korean passenger plane exploded, killing all 115 people aboard, and a captured North Korean agent told South Korean investigators that she bombed the jetliner at the order of North Korean leaders who wanted to disrupt the Seoul Olympics.

Lewiston bowling alley reopens 6 months after Maine's deadliest mass shooting

2024-05-04 07:42 Last Updated At：07:51

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — It's a dilemma no business owner should have to face: whether to reopen after a mass shooting.

The answer didn't come easily to Justin and Samantha Juray. But when they did decide to reopen their Maine bowling alley, they didn't hold back.

When patrons returned Friday, six months after the gunman opened fire, they were impressed by the scenic images and messages of resilience at the end of each lane, bright paint on the walls and new floors. The Lewiston venue has undergone a complete makeover, giving it a vibrant, airy feel.

“It looks beautiful,” said Lena Galipeau, who works with a group of adults with disabilities who'd been anxious to return.

Samantha Juray gets emotional when recalling the events of Oct. 25, when the gunman killed eight people at the bowling alley before driving to a nearby bar and pool hall where he killed 10 more during the deadliest shooting in the state's history. He later died by suicide.

“It's never going to leave my head,” Juray said. “I think if we don't move forward — not that there was a point to this whole thing anyway — but we're just going to allow the people that have taken so much from us win.”

Justin Juray initially was dead-set against reopening and they also got some negative outside feedback. But that all changed, she said, as people in Lewiston rallied behind them. Within weeks, they knew they had to reopen, Samantha Juray said.

They decided to keep the same name: Just-In-Time Recreation. They call it that because when they bought the venue three years ago, the owner was days away from shutting it down. It also fits with Justin’s name.

John Robinson attended the reopening with his son Colin, who was there with his mother the night of the shooting. Robinson said it was emotional to return to the bowling alley — he'd also been to an earlier soft launch with families — but it also felt like a weight had been lifted. He knew all those who died at the bowling alley and counted them as friends.

“I can't say how great this day is,” he said. “An opportunity to celebrate their lives. To celebrate the rebirth of Just-In-Time.”

He said the reopening was important for bowlers across the region because there aren't many places to bowl in Maine and they're spread out.

Across the country, people have taken varied approaches after mass shootings. Barbara Poma, the former owner of the Pulse nightclub in Florida where 49 people were killed in 2016, said every situation and community is different.

“You are suddenly thrown into a state of shock, and emotions dictate your thoughts,” Poma said in an email. "Eventually you are forced to make a critical business decision based on how it will impact others emotionally and publicly. There just is no easy or right answer.”

The City of Orlando last year agreed to buy the Pulse nightclub site to create a memorial.

In Aurora, Colorado, a movie theater where 12 people were killed in 2012 later reopened under a new name. Buffalo’s Tops Friendly Market reopened in 2022, two months after 10 Black people were killed.

In Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School was razed, and there also are plans to bulldoze Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

In Lewiston, Kathy Lebel, who owns the second business hit by the gunman, Schemengees Bar & Grille, also hopes to reopen at a different venue.

At the bowling alley, Tom Giberti said people are “so excited to get us back.”

Giberti, who has worked at the bowling alley for 20 years, is credited with saving the lives of at least four children the night of the shooting. He ushered them along a narrow walkway between the lanes to an area behind the pins. Before Giberti could get to safety himself, he was shot in both legs and hit with shrapnel.

After undergoing surgery, it wasn't long before Giberti stopped using the mobility walker he'd been given. These days, he enjoys playing golf and shows few physical signs of his injuries as he strides about the bowling alley.

A lot of people in Lewiston have helped get the venue reopened, he said.

“The community has been phenomenal,” Giberti said. “They’ve been right here for us, they’ve been supporting us.”

The makeover of the bowling alley includes a new scoring system and many tributes, including a table featuring pictures of the eight who died at Just-In-Time, and bowling pins with the names of the 18 shooting victims from both venues.

Among those killed were two bowling alley staff members. Most of the staff who survived are returning to work at the venue.

Samantha Juray said they are fully prepared to serve customers again and can’t wait to see the familiar faces of regulars as they get used to a new normal.

“This is us, standing back up again,” said Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday afternoon that packed the bowling alley. “With all of you here, it's very clear. Lewiston can never be kept down.”

When it was the Jurays turn to speak, Justin turned to the crowd.

“You're the reason,” he said, as he raised his arms to thunderous cheers. “This is why. This is why we decided to reopen.”

Associated Press writer David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.

Koreas may field a joint women's hockey team at Olympics

Sport

Koreas may field a joint women's hockey team at Olympics

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