Afterwards, Americans Chris Plys and Vicky Persinger spoke to the media, in which attention quite frustratingly, moved away from their 6-5 victory over Australia - the first result of the Games - and towards the heroics of John Shuster's rink at Pyeongchang 2018.

Shuster's story follows the classic cinematic trope of the sporting underdog, a cobbled-together team known as "The Rejects" going on to win the men's Olympic gold medal. A documentary has already been commissioned and a feel-good sports movie filled with historical inaccuracies will follow soon surely.

Although an Olympic bronze medallist back at Turin 2006, Shuster had little success as a skip of his own team at the start and was dropped from the United States' high performance programme, along with John Landsteiner. They teamed up with combine reject Matt Hamilton and Tyler George, who could not attend the combine due to work commitments to create "The Rejects", and prove everyone wrong.

The quartet took bronze at the 2016 World Championship in Basel, just a year after forming and finished fourth in Edmonton the following year. In many respects, they were not the ultimate underdogs, but still achieved an extraordinary feat, beating accomplished nations such as Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain to the Olympic gold in South Korea.

Plys joined the team following the Games in place of George, who stepped back from competitive curling and will be part of the defending US four-man rink next week too.

This is the beauty of sport - anything can happen.

Sara Hector is the feel-good story in winter sports at the moment.

The Swedish 29-year-old has had a 2021-2022 season to remember, winning three Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom races and making the podium in five of the six events, making her the most in-form skier on the women's circuit. However, this follows on from a barren spell.

She previously had just one World Cup win to her name, dating back to December 2014, weeks after making the podium for the first time. 

Her third podium came six years to the day after her first one, but it would be her only one of the 2020-2021 World Cup.

Now, she sits in front of decorated slalom skiers Mikaela Shiffrin of the US, France's Tessa Worley and Slovakia's Petra Vlhová.

A gold for Hector could be one of the highlights of the Games and she is not the only athlete who has found themselves in great shape, either after a solid building year or seemingly out of nowhere.

Belarus have made headlines for all the wrong reasons in sport and politics particularly over the past two years, with several of their brightest prospects being ousted from national teams due to their opinions on the authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. However, two who have survived the blackout are biathletes Hanna Sola and Dzinara Alimbekava.

Sola has had a stratospheric rise in particular, winning her first Biathlon World Cup race this season, following on from her sprint bronze medal at the World Championships. It feels like night-and-day for the 25-year-old, who was 50th in the individual and 84th in the sprint just a year earlier.

Dutch skeleton racer Kimberley Bos is no longer making up the numbers in an Olympic final - she is the woman to beat at the moment after winning her first two World Cup races of her career, following on from a solid 2020-2021 season.

Short track speed skating has long been dominated by the Hungarian Liu brothers and Dutch skater Suzanne Schulting, but amongst them, Pascal Dion of Canada has emerged in the men's 1,000 metres, winning the first World Cup of his career and as a contender for the gold medal at Beijing 2022.

His compatriot and freestyle skier Brendan Mackay has had similar form, winning two halfpipe gold medals either side of the New Year in Calgary. His form picked up in 2020 with his maiden podium, but has taken the halfpipe field by storm at the perfect time, establishing himself as a challenger to America's two-time Olympic champion David Wise.

Any of these athletes standing atop of the podium will cap off seasons of great personal achievement, but may get lost in the drama of the Games, particularly when Beijing 2022 is being held under the shade of human rights issues and curbs to freedom of expression. Unfortunately, a great season can get lost in the shuffle as the predictable is not as fairy-tale as the unpredictable. 

Shuster's rise could not have been predicted in such a short period and will be remembered for years even if he suffers a barren spell for the rest of his sporting career. Australian Steven Bradbury's short track speed skating win at Salt Lake City 2002 or the incredible "Miracle on Ice" hockey win for the US at Lake Placid 1980.

Some of the underdogs coming into the Games include the Australian mixed doubles curling team of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt, a duo who made history for their country in the sport and could inspire a generation. 

Jamaica's bobsleigh teams are always regarded as fan favourites and a strong performance from them at Beijing 2022 could go down in history.

We might even see another Miracle on Ice in men's ice hockey if the Canadians can claim gold in front of the firm favourites the Russian Olympic Committee. Another Games without National Hockey League players has stripped the Canadian team down, but you just never know.

We will find out over the next 17 days, but first the curtain must come up. 

Bring on the Opening Ceremony.