Fast Facts About the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea
Although the 2016 Rio Olympics is still ongoing, much attention is now given to the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics, also an international multi-sports event, which will be held from February 9 to 25, 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
After three consecutive bids of holding the Winter Olympics, on July 6, 2011, Pyeongchang was announced as the host city by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa. The other cities that applied to host the games include Munich, Germany, and Annecy, France.
It will be the first Winter Olympics to be hosted by South Korea. The country already hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul. It also became the eighth country to host both the Winter and Summer Olympics, and the second Asian city to host the Winter Games, which were earlier played in Sapporo (1972) and Nagano (1998), both in Japan.
Preparing for the 2018 Winter Olympics
The IOC declared the organization of the Pyeongchang 2018 Coordination Commission on August 5, 2011. Kim Jin Sun was later announced as the head of the Organizing Committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics. On October 19, 2011, the Pyeongchang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) was launched at its first assembly and started the tasks of putting together a master plan for the games and creating a design for the venues.
In March 2012, the IOC Coordination Commission for the 2018 Winter Olympics visited Pyeongchang and saw that the construction was already ongoing in the Olympic Village. The construction for a high-speed rail line began in June 2012 to connect Pyeongchang to Seoul.
The then-IOC President Jacques Rogge went to Pyeongchang for the first time in February 2013.
Venues
Some of the venues in the 2018 Winter Olympics include the Alpensia Sports Park, Bokwang Snow Park, Jeongseon Alpine Center, and Gangneung Coastal. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held in the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.
The last Winter Olympics was held in Sochi, Russia. The host country led the standings with 13 gold medals and 33 medals overall. South Korea ranked 13th with three golds, and eight medals in total.