David Di Somma: Winter Olympics - winner or loser?

Nico Porteous was just one of two medal winners for New Zealand.
Nico Porteous was just one of two medal winners for New Zealand. Photo credit: Getty

OPINION: It's the inevitable question - what were the Games like? It'll be asked many, many times when we get back.

It's simple enough you'd think but it's not that easy.

How do you sum up three weeks of competition with 3000 competitors from over 100 countries, spread over many venues more than 100 kilometres apart?

From a New Zealand perspective, the games have only one measure of success - a medal. To get two, albeit bronze, was a job done.

That they were won by two 16-year-olds from Wanaka in Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Nico Porteous only added to their lustre.

Porteous's boyish delight on finding out his score was one of the enduring memories of the games.

Both are well known in winter sports circles and have been World Cup regulars for a while, but back home they went from obscurity to national prominence in a huge rush.

Porteous is the more outgoing of the pair and is like a seasoned media performer, Sadowski-Synnott shier and more introspective, but still most engaging.

Together the pair would have done dozens of interviews with media outlets all over the world.

Sadowski-Synnott ended New Zealand's 26-year drought at the Games with a bronze in the women's big air final.
Sadowski-Synnott ended New Zealand's 26-year drought at the Games with a bronze in the women's big air final. Photo credit: Getty

They would have been asked the same answer countless times, but they replied with enthusiasm and conviction. Many other sports could be led by their example.

Before the dual bronze medal wins, Pyeongchang was looking like another Olympics where fourth would be our lot - "the Kiwi bronze", it was being called here.

Speed skater Peter Michael had two fourths, one in the 5000 metre individual and another in the team pursuit, and then there was Carlos Garcia Knight's fifth in the slopestyle. It was looking frustratingly familiar.

One day New Zealand will win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics. Pyeongchang has shown that with new events like the Big Air, we can produce world class athletes.

But with 20 athletes in the team, the Kiwis were only a minor player in a major spectacle.

In some ways, the Pyeongchang Olympics are a bit of a misnomer.

Pyeongchang itself is not much, a county more than a destination.

The largest centre for these games was Gangneung, a city of around 200,000 on the north-east coast, overlooking the Japan sea. 

It's a good two hours by train away from the big dog that is Seoul.

Gangneung is an unremarkable place except for the fact that it has a winter sports hub surely the envy of many nations.

In close proximity are the flashiest stadia for ice hockey, curling, short track and long track speed skating, etc.

Six of the seven venues have been newly built for the games, and they are impressive.

Just how such a small population can sustain them after the games is a different issue altogether. Apparently some will be "repurposed" into community facilities or warehousing, some may disappear altogether like the Olympic stadium.

Carlos Garcia Knight crashed out of the men's big air final.
Carlos Garcia Knight crashed out of the men's big air final. Photo credit: Getty

It will be used just four times - the opening and closing ceremonies for the Winter Olympics and the Paralympics - and then it will be torn down.

The spectre of "white elephants" is always an issue. Literally billions have been poured into these games, and where to from here is always an interesting discussion point.

Throughout these games we have been based at Phoenix snow park, a 90-minute drive from Gangneung.

It hosts a number of snow sports including the halfpipe, the slopestyle, the moguls and the aerials. The rest of our time is spent at the Alpensia resort, the midway point between Phoenix and Gangneung.

This houses the Main Press Centre, where most of the media base themselves during their working days. It is the place to get interviews, do live crosses, and edit and file stories and photos.

We stayed at a condo along with hundreds of other media - it is basic, clean and warm.

And that's a pretty satisfying combo when you think that temperatures outside have been as low as -23degC, though to be fair the temperature has risen as the games have gone on.

Remarkably it has only snowed twice in the past fortnight, and even then though it was nothing out of the ordinary.

The Phoenix area itself is a bit of a dive. The ski area looks good and obviously up to Olympic standard, but there is a ghost town feel about it.

Maybe that is because everyone has cleared out while the games are on. But with derelict buildings and very few amenities it does look a bit down on its luck.

It could be that usually during the ski season it's a bustling hive of activity - who knows.

Peter Michael went agonisingly close to getting on the podium, but was forced to settle for fourth in two different events.
Peter Michael went agonisingly close to getting on the podium, but was forced to settle for fourth in two different events. Photo credit: Getty

But it does have "Chicken and Beer" outlets and their fried chicken (all 95 versions of it) is something special. The beer comes in massive 3 litre jugs too - so that is hard to fault.

But the resort does not have the vibe you would expect of a Winter Olympics - it's all a bit pedestrian.

Organisation these games has been top notch. Security has been visible but not over-bearing, guards and volunteers have been courteous throughout.

The only aggro we have seen has been foreigners not getting their own way.

Such was the low expectation of terrorism, crime or civil disturbance these Games that many of the police and security personnel looked like they had been plucked from high school.

Transport, too, has been first class, with buses and trains readily available and punctual.

On the one occasion we were running late to get the Main Press Centre, we were kindly given a lift by a contingent of French media in their own van. We will not hear a bad word about the French again.

Overall maybe these games were a 7/10 before the two medals pushed them to 8 1/2 or 9.

But the key is that this is not the end goal for winter sports in New Zealand. It's just a beginning.

Increased funding, more public awareness, greater credibility are all spinoffs from the past few weeks, and that is a substantial victory in itself.

David Di Somma is in Pyeongchang reporting for Newshub.