PyeongChang unveils preview of Olympic podium
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Models in costume for the victory ceremony at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and Paralympics hold Olympic mascots, Olympic medals and wooden artifacts that will be given to medalists during the Olympics at a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
Organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics presented a preview of the Olympic podium, costumes, ceremonial music and gifts for medal winners Wednesday.
The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympics & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) said there will be 103 medal ceremonies at the Winter Olympics and 80 at the Paralympics. The medal-winning athletes will have two award ceremonies -- first, they will be recognized at a “venue ceremony” right after the competition, and then there will be a “victory ceremony” at the Medal Plaza inside the Olympic Plaza in PyeongChang a day after the competition. During the victory ceremony, the winning athletes will be given gold, silver and bronze medals.
Introducing the plans for the medal ceremonies, POCOG President Lee Hee-beom said they will be festivals for both fans and athletes.
“The award ceremonies will recognize the efforts of the athletes, and for sports fans it is also an event to celebrate. We will do our best to turn the event into a festival,” Lee told reporters during a press conference at the Press Center in Seoul. He said the Medal Plaza will feature a variety of cultural events every day such as K-pop concerts.
The POCOG president said the ceremony items have been designed under the concept of “convergence and unique.” “The items are based on the idea of combining aspects of Western and Eastern culture, as well as modern and traditional. The ceremony will also deliver the unique beauty of Korean culture,” said the official.
Medal-bearers will wear blue, white and red colored costumes inspired by the South Korean national flag, the “Taegukgi,” and traditional Korean winter clothes. Geum Key-sook, a professor of textile arts and fashion design at Hongik University, designed the costumes.
“When designing the costumes, I tried to transfer three meanings into them. They should have the Olympic spirit as well as Korea’s aesthetic beauty. Also, the clothing should be warm enough,” Keum explained.
At the venue ceremony, the medal-winning athletes will be given a small sized Olympic mascot wearing “uhsahwa,” a paper flower bouquet that the king bestowed upon a man when he passed the state exam during the Joseon Kingdom period (1392-1910). The winning athletes will also receive wooden sculptures with “Hangeul,” the Korean alphabet, against the mountainous scenery of PyeongChang.
The winning athletes will stand on the white podium during the ceremony. It was designed by Han Kyung-woo, a professor of installation art at Seoul National University of Science & Technology.
Han said the podium is also inspired by snow on the traditional Korean tiled roof, “giwa.” He also applied “dancheong” (traditional Korean decorative painting) patterns on it.
The POCOG also previewed the music that will be played during the ceremony. The four-minute song is by popular K-pop composer Cho Young-soo. Cho explained he composed the music combining “gugak” or traditional Korean music and electronic dance music.