IOC Members Applaud PyeongChang’s Bid
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
The last official presentation of the 2014 PyeongChang Bid Committee was the most impressive of those given by contenders for the 2014 Winter Olympics on Wednesday, judging by audience response.
At SportAccord in Beijing where sports industry leaders, sponsors, television executives, IOC delegates and other members of the Olympic world were present, only the South Korean delegation received sustained applause from the floor after finishing its presentation.
Members of the PyeongChang 2014 Bid Committee were center-stage at SportAccord in Beijing Wednesday as they made a presentation to the international sporting community.
The presentation focused on the potential to increase interest in winter sports in Asia if PyeongChang were selected to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The 15 minute presentation was made by Han Seung-soo, chairman of the PyeongChang 2014 Bid Committee, Kim Myung-gon, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Kim Jin-sun, governor of Kangwon Province, Kim Jung-kil, president of the Korean Olympic Committee and Chun Lee-kyung, a short track Olympic gold medallist.
The Bid Committee also announced the development of the Dream Program which, beginning in 2015, will include a ``World Youth Winter Sports Festival’’ spreading enthusiasm for winter sports to younger generations around the world.
Kim Myung-gon, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, explained the Korean Government’s comprehensive plan to foster winter sports and reconfirmed their strong support of the bid.
Chairman Han emphasized how the strong sporting passion of Korean citizens was a contributing force to the successful hosting of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Summer Games and 2002 FIFA World Cup. Over 90 percent of Koreans are behind PyeongChang’s bid to host the 2014 PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Chairman Han said: ``We in the PyeongChang Bid Committee are grateful for today’s opportunity to present our vision to the sporting world here at SportAccord in Beijing. We believe that hosting the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games would help to awaken the potential in Asia, contributing to the expansion of the Olympic Movement through the growth of winter sports.’’
PyeongChang, which nearly upset Vancouver in the vote for the 2010 Games four years ago, stressed its message of promoting peace and reconciliation on the divided Korean peninsula and expanding winter sports throughout Asia, according to AP.
Korean officials also emphasized their program of bringing youth from around the world to PyeongChang to train in winter sports, it said.
Sochi, PyeongChang’s rival in the bidding process, is hoping to take the Winter Games to Russia for the first time. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov attended SportAccord to underline the top-level government support offered by President Vladimir Putin. He also sought to dispel concerns that the Olympics might be too big of a challenge for Sochi, which must build most of its venues from scratch, AP said.