Rarely have De Coubertin’s words been more apt than when the unified Korean women’s team, featuring players from either side of the North-South divide, took to the ice for their historic and momentous debut.

The fact that they were thrashed 8-0 by a vastly superior Switzerland team was largely an irrelevance, for it was the match itself which was truly significant.

The message it sent went far beyond a preliminary round ice hockey game. The two countries, technically still at war having only signed a ceasefire to end it in 1953, rarely speak let alone compete side-by-side on one of sport’s biggest stages.

Yet here they were, dressed in the unification flag and participating as one, united team.

Few would have thought this possible even six months ago. 

Concerns over North Korea have been ever-present in the build-up to the Games, particularly amid the growing status of North Korea’s nuclear weaponry, and the relationship with the South has showed only the faintest sign of healing.

Yet here were South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, pictured together for the second evening in a row.

Judging by the diplomatic displays thus far, Pyeongchang 2018 would still go down as the "Peace Olympics" even if the Gamesended tomorrow. It would still be known as the Games where unity triumphed division and where politics arguably played a greater role than ever before.

This was already becoming the case before the unified team made their eagerly-anticipated Pyeongchang 2018 entrance last night.

The teams marched in the Opening Ceremony under the unification flag for the first time since the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. During the upbeat and colourful spectacle, Kim and Moon were seen shaking hands in the VIP box at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in an image beamed to millions around the world.

This morning, Kim and Moon had conducted a rare meeting at the Cheong Wa Dae, where an official invite was handed over to the South Korean President to attend a summit in Pyongyang as soon as possible.

If it were to come to fruition, it would be the first such summit between the two countries for more than a decade and represent a further step in the right direction for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

This will not come easy, of course. While the frosty relationship may be warming ever-so slightly, the political situation on the Korean Peninsula is far from straightforward and it will take a lot more than a joint hockey team and the odd handshake to fix that.

Yet the rhetoric disseminating from these Olympics will greatly please a large portion of South Korean residents, many of whom still desire to one day be reunified with their Northern neighbours.

The swiftly-assembled unified team has not been universally popular in South Korea - even coach Sarah Murray had her reservations as the proposal quickly became a reality - but, judging by the reaction here tonight, you would not have known.

Dressed in kit adorned with the unification flag, the team skated onto the ice into an atmosphere many would never have previously experienced.

This was mostly made possible by a group of North Korean cheerleaders, who sang, danced and clapped almost in perfect unison throughout, even as the gap on the scoreboard widened.

The cheerleaders, part of the North Korean delegation here, were also present over at the Gangneung Ice Arena for the first night of short track speed skating finals. They garnered similar attention and focus there with their effervescent displays of support.

They were also far more entertaining to watch than the ice hockey itself, a one-sided affair as you are ever likely to see.

In reality, though, that mattered little as the spectacle superseded the sport. It was an "I was there" moment, but not in the same way as an Olympic ice hockey final, where the sporting drama and tension usually eclipses everything else.

It was also moment which International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach helped create. Once Kim Jong-un declared his country’s interest in participating at Pyeongchang 2018 on New Years' Day, Bach and the IOC pursued ways in which this could be capitalised on.

In desperate need of a feel-good story following a tumultuous, turbulent and torrid couple of years where corruption and doping scandals have dominated the agenda, Bach saw an opportunity and took it.

While Bach may have been the architect of a messy response to Russia’s "systematic manipulation" of the anti-doping system at Sochi 2014, here he deserves some credit.

Few will be happier than the German with the pictures of leaders of countries who do not share even the tiniest shred of diplomatic relations coming together at the Olympics as he continues his endless, and sometimes tiresome, quest to ensure sport changes the world.

"Sport can neither save the world alone nor can it alone make the world a better and peaceful place," he said at a speech in Copenhagen in 2015.

"But sport has the power to contribute to a better harmonious and peaceful world."

That particular element has been present throughout the Games so far but Bach and the IOC would be remiss to remember their plan was almost derailed before it had time to materialise.

With the Opening Ceremony less than 24 hours away, insidethegames exclusively revealed that North Korea had threatened to withdraw from Pyeongchang 2018 in response to comments made by United States Vice-President Mike Pence, who said they plan to introduce the "toughest and most aggressive" sanctions yet against North Korea.

Pence had chosen not to stand when the Korean team marched under the unified flag at the Ceremony while there were also suggestions he deliberately snubbed Kim during a pre-event reception.

While it was not surprising - Pence would surely have been castigated back home if he had shown the same warmth towards North Korea as the Winter Olympic host nation - his comments provided a stark reminder that, for all the critics, sport and politics do mix and that does not always produce positive results.

Bach and the IOC have, however, been used to this in recent weeks. South Korea’s main opposition party has continually denounced North Korean participation here, accusing the Government of doing too much to accommodate the nation.

Some have labelled these Games as the "Pyongyang Olympics" and, in some ways, they have been right.

The sister of one of the most feared men in the world has stolen the show during the first days of the Games - the attention seems to be mainly on when and where she will turn up next – by appearing, on the surface at least, to be far more amicable than her authoritarian brother.

The cheerleaders have also attracted a large portion of the limelight, while the North Korean players on the joint team have been a bigger story than their South Korean counterparts.

In the grand scheme of things, however, these concerns are immaterial and peripheral to the main theme of the opening few days of the "Peace Olympics".

For the meantime, sporting diplomacy is the order of the day.