 The delegation for the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games Bid Committee including Choung Byoung-gug, fourth from right in front row, minister of culture, sports and tourism poses at Incheon International Airport Friday before departing for Durban, South Africa, to take part in the IOC General Assembly where the host city of the 2018 Winter Games will be announced at midnight 9KST), July 6. / Yonhap |
By Yoon Chul
The PyeongChang bid committee delegation departed for Durban, South Africa with hopes to bring the 2018 Winter Games to Korea.
“We have reached this point without any mistakes. But from now on it is more important,” Choung Byoung-gug, minister of culture, sports and tourism, said Friday.
The delegation will enter the last stretch under its slogan “New Horizons,” until the announcement for the host city on July 6.
“Until the moment the IOC members vote, I will transfer our will and desire,” Choung said.
The three candidate cities of PyeongChang, Munich of Germany and France’s Annecy will make their final presentations in front of the 110 IOC members at the General Assembly, Wednesday.
Cho Yang-ho, head of the PyeongChang bid committee, Park Yong-sung, head of the Korea Olympic Committee and figure skating star Kim Yu-na, all of whom made presentations in a meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) in Lome, Togo on June 28, will join the delegation in Durban.
Each city committee will give a 45-minute presentation, followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session starting with Munich, then Annecy and finally PyeongChang.
Choung has said that if PyeongChang hosts the Winter Games it will not only be PyeongChang’s Games but also Asia, Africa and South America’s Olympic Games, which have been previously alienated by the (Winter) Games.
From Saturday to Monday, the delegation composed of 100 official delegates and 80 supporters will rehearse at an area designated by the IOC and attend the opening ceremony of the IOC General Assembly on Tuesday.
IOC members from the three nations bidding to host the Games are excluded from the initial vote.
Swiss member Denis Oswald also won’t vote to avoid conflict of interest following his world rowing federation’s sponsorship deal with South Korean company Samsung, leaving 102 members eligible to vote in the first round
IOC President Jacques Rogge generally doesn’t vote at any stage.
The secret ballot continues until one city acquires a majority.
If one city fails to receive a majority, the city with the fewest votes will be eliminated and the IOC members from that country can vote in the next round.
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