Pound Hesitant on Unified Korean Team Nobel Prize

(ATR) Doyen of the International Olympic Committee Richard Pound says it is too early to award a Nobel Peace Prize to the athletes of the Unified Korean women's hockey team.

"My inclination would be to wait and see whether there is any meaningful dialogue resulting from the initial gesture before deciding on any such proposal," Pound told Around the Rings in exclusive comments.

The unified team featuring 12 athletes from North Korea has already competed twice at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, dropping both of its matches 8-0 to Switzerland and Sweden. Korea plays its third group match against Japan on Feb. 14. All of the matches were sold out.

To recognize the symbolic gesture of North and South Korean athletes competing on a unified team for the first time ever in the Olympics, United States IOC member Angela Ruggiero told Reuters on Feb. 11 that the team should be given the Nobel Peace Prize. Ruggiero said she would ask others to nominate the team.

"I would love the team to get the Nobel Peace Prize," Ruggiero said. "Seriously, the team. Something that is recognizing the sacrifice they made to adjusting their competitions."

A four-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist herself, Ruggiero said she witnessed the power of sport to unite people during Korea’s first matches.

"As someone who competed in four Olympics and knows it isn’t about you, your team, or your country, I saw the power of what it did last night," Ruggiero said.

Fellow IOC member and president of the International Canoe Federation Jose Perurena told ATR that Ruggiero’s proposal "came from the heart and with love". However, he agrees with others who have previously suggested that the Nobel Peace Prize be given to the IOC itself for mediating the negotiations.

"In my opinion is the result of arduous negotiations carried out personally by the President [Thomas] Bach, he is the true protagonist, and the girls are the outcome of these negotiations," Perurena said.

The joint Korean team was included in the multiple Olympic proposals between the two countries that were agreed upon at IOC headquarters in Lausanne on Jan. 20.

The stipulations of the proposals included that the two countries would march as one during the Opening Ceremony, IOC President Bach would visit North Korea and North Korea would send cultural and athletic performers to South Korea along with its 22 athletes competing in the Olympics.

The Olympics have already provided a pathway for the two Koreas to re-establish communication after two years of radio silence. High-level government officials from each country met three times prior to the landmark agreement in Lausanne.

Kim Yo Jong, sister to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, also attended the Opening Ceremony where she shook hands with South Korean President Jae In Moon and even invited him to visit the North Korean capital of Pyongyang before she returned to North Korea.

Written by Kevin Nutley and Miguel Hernandez

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