Germany's chef de mission Dirk Schimmelpfennig said Tuesday that his athletes were a little surprised by the cold weather in PyeongChang, the host city of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Germany, a winter sports powerhouse, had its welcome ceremony at the PyeongChang Village. Schimmelpfennig said he didn't expect the temperature in PyeongChang to be this low.

With strong winds, PyeongChang has been notorious for its bitter cold, with temperatures dropping to nearly minus 20 degrees Celsius.
 

"We're a little bit surprised of this weather," said Schimmelpfennig, who will lead 154 German athletes for the PyeongChang Olympics. "It feels like minus 25 degrees or something, and this, this is even special for us."

Schimmelpfennig, also a board member of the German Olympic Sports Association, said Germany, which finished sixth in the medal count at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, is looking to do better than it did four years ago.

"We've been working hard for years for this Olympic Games," he said. "We know, we're strong winter sports nation. Hopefully we can be successful in PyeongChang."

Led by lugers like Felix Loch and Natalie Geisenberger, as well as cross-country skier Laura Dahlmeier, Schimmelpfennig said he wants to see Germany collect more medals that it did in Sochi. At the 2014 Winter Games, Germans won eight gold, six silver and five bronze medals.

"How many medals? We don't know," he said. "But we won 19 medals in Sochi, so we want to win more."

For the Winter Olympics in South Korea, 110 German athletes will live at the PyeongChang Village, while the other 44 will stay at the Gangneung Village.

"I know both Olympic villages and it's really nice," he said.

"Food is very good and rooms are nice. The best athletes are here in this village, so it's really great." (Yonhap)