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Gangwon Province
2018 Chief Decision Soon
South Korean president Myung Bak Lee will make a decision shortly on who will lead the PyeongChang 2018 organizing committee.
According to The Korea Herald, a source within the sports ministry tells the daily: "I believe he’ll make the decision no later than next week."
Lee is reportedly considering Yang Ho Cho, who led the bid; Y.S. Park, chair of the Korean Olympic Committee and Jin Sun Kim, former governor of Gangwon Province and the leader of PyeongChang’s two other bids.
The source claims "there are several others on Lee’s list" but did not say who.
"Lee is still examining several options, but it won’t take long."
On Oct. 6, the bid committee will be dissolved, forming the organizing committee shortly after.
Uncertain Future for Notorious Stadium
Montreal’s 1976 Olympic Stadium could be demolished.
The venue is most notorious for cost overruns and its current white elephant status. The final tab came to nearly $1.5 billion and was paid off 30 years after the Games.
However, the government agency that oversees the stadium’s administration will start public hearings about its future next week.
A report in the Canadian Press quotes committee head Lise Bissonnette as saying that demolishing the venue is a potential course of action.
"The way the stadium is built you cannot demolish it by just putting some dynamite in it and getting rid of it in a day. It would take months," she said Wednesday.
Demolition has been discussed before. However, due to the all-concrete nature of the stadium, estimates to tear down the building are extremely high.
Bissonnettesaid the money would be better spent on renovations to relaunch the stadium and the surrounding Olympic Park facilities, which include museums, a sports center and a 165-meter inclined tower.
"Though the stadium had its problems, as a piece of architectureit's absolutely famous and beautiful," she said.
"To demolish that would be, I think, a sort of failure that we would not recover from symbolically."
A report on the stadium’s future is expected next year.
British, Russian PMs Cite Olympic Connection
In Monday’s meeting with his Russian counterpart, British prime minister David Cameron cited the Olympics as a common link with Russia.
According to a transcript released by Vladimir Putin’s office, Cameron said: "Obviously there are many things on the economic front that we can discuss, such as the World Trade Organization, the cooperation I think we can have on the issue of the Olympics – both our Olympics next year and the Sochi Winter Olympics."
Cameron made the comments during a state visit to Russia.
Prime Minister Putin stressed his desire to continue the positive relationship with Great Britain, Russia’s largest trading partner.
Written by Ed Hula III.