 Korea’s 4-man bobsleigh team led by Kang Kwang-bae, right, competes in the World Cup in Igles, Austria in the 2009-10 season. / Korea Times file |
By Yoon Chul
PyeongChang is a small largely unknown town in Gangwon Province. When it first announced its bid to host the Winter Olympics, most foreigners confused it with Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
That’s why the bid committee capitalized the “C,” in order so the name is not confused.
Now, thanks to Jacque Rogge’s announcement on, the Korean winter sports center aims to become one of the best in Asia.
“When I competed in other countries, many foreign skaters asked why didn’t Korea host the Winter Games,” Korean speed skating legend Lee Kyou-hyuk told The Korea Times.
“Now posterity and some Asians can benefit in their training thanks to the new facilities (that will be built).”
Lee probably couldn’t have said it better because not only Koreans but also other Asians may be favored with Korea’s new Winter Olympic town.
Koreans won’t have to train overseas during the winter season when the pledged facilities are completed. Korea will revamp seven existing facilities and build six new ones in time for the Winter Games.
“Now I expect to train on home soil with the right facilities,” Korean freestyle skier Seo Jung-hwa said.
Those competing in snowboarding, freestyle, skiing and sledding events will be able to remain in their home country for training.
Japan’s Nagano, host of the 1998 Winter Olympics, and PyeongChang will both have facilities for top-class sledding competitions once a venue is built in Korea by 2017. This could attract world cup events to Asia.
“We will try to host the bobsleigh world cup. And we will open a bobsleigh school to spread the sport throughout the world, especially in Asia,” said Kang Kwang-bae a former Korean international bobsledder and current vice president of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (FIBT).
The Korean government and the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) has secured about $500 million for the “Drive the Dream” program and part of the money will be used to promote winter sports in Asia.
It is the first of the pledges that the PyeongChang Winter Games Bid Committee gave IOC members and the committee and government have kept their word over the last 12 years.
The swift action and the readiness to commit to their promises is a sign that Korea and PyeongChang are serious about making the 2018 Winter Games a success.
At the time of the Nagano Games, Japan was restrained by economic factors and not able to fully invest in winter sports.
But now, the scale of the economy in Asia has expanded and more countries are looking to become challengers in winter sports.
The other advantage that PyeongChang will have is its better accessibility for athletes as they move from their accommodation to the venues. The aim is for visiting teams to be able to reach all the venues within a 30 minute drive, making it easy for them to manage their schedules. The bid committee has already pledged to build a bullet train linking Incheon International Airport, Seoul and PyeongChang, shortening the travel time to the Olympic town to under 70 minutes.
PyeongChang was only known in Korea before winning the right to hold the Games but now the name is poised to spread across the world.
“With better circumstance I will challenge to become an international ski jumper. And I will stand at the top in the world renown city PyeongChang in the 2018 Winter Olympics,” said Korean ski jumper, Kim Hyun-ki.
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