The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang has seen some incredible feats of athleticism. From Shaun White's near perfect performance on the half pipe, or the American women overcoming Canada to take the hockey gold, there has been no shortage of excitement.
Many countries view their medal count at the end of any Olympics as a sign of success or failure. Russia boasted the highest medal count in Sochi until it was revealed that the entire country was on steroids. This year, the Russians have yet to claim a gold medal and aside from their hockey team, they have been an utter disappointment.
One country, however, is the unquestioned winner of these Olympics and they didn't even win a medal. That country would be North Korea.
No chance on the field
It was a near last-minute decision that North Korea would even compete in these Olympics. With only two athletes actually qualifying for an event, a pair of figure skaters, the political negotiations allowed North Korea to send 22 athletes to compete in various events.
Why North Korea sent hundreds of cheerleaders to the Olympics pic.twitter.com/6YucmtRjho
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) February 22, 2018
There was even a joint Korean women's hockey team that was meant to be a sign of new cooperation between the adversarial nations. The thrown together team was blown out of every game and only scored two goals during the tournament.
With almost all of their athletes coming in dead last in their respective fields, one would think that this has been an embarrassing showing for Kim Jong-un's country. Quite the opposite, though, as athletics were never the goal, to begin with.
Political victory
The goal of attending the games was never to win a gold medal for Kim Jong-un.
His "army of beauties," better known as their cheerleading squad, have stolen the show at any event they were at. Even western media was praising their patriotism and mesmerizing routines.
For a second, the world forgot that these cheerleaders were anything more than hostages, as one false move would surely find them being sent to a labor camp upon their return home.
Finding a common ground with South Korea on the joint women's team was a win in itself, as the effects of that cooperation will last long after the Olympic torch is extinguished. Kim recently declared that he wants to see a unification of the two nations, without international interference. This may have been the first step in doing just that.
Kim's own sister attended the beginning of the games and received similar positive coverage. South Korean news went as far as to dub her, "the North Korean Ivanka," in a comparison to President Trump's daughter Ivanka.
When Kim Jong-un's sister made her historic visit to the Winter Olympics, the South Korean news media called her "North Korea’s Ivanka." Now, President Trump is sending the real one. https://t.co/JKe67WsDaE
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 22, 2018
The positive press coverage is exactly what Kim Jong-un sought out when deciding to send a delegation to Pyeongchang.
The ability to bring the message home to his starving nation will assuredly be a propaganda win for him.
While the games are meant to be about the athletes, North Korea has swooped in and won the week without winning a single medal.