Bidding for the Games: PyeongChang Bid for 2018 Olympics Approved

A ski run at the Dragon Valley Resort in PyeongChang. (ATR)South Korean city Pyeongchang wins the backing of the Korean Olympic Committee to launch a bid to host the 2018 Winter Games.

The Korean Olympic Committee approved the city’s third bid for the Winter Olympics at an executive committee meeting in Seoul Thursday; 30 of the 43 executive commissioners and sports officials in attendance voted in support of the bid.

The KOC completed a two-day inspection of Pyeongchang earlier this month and the evaluation committee said the city was well prepared for the Olympics. The winter resort town 110 miles northeast of Seoul lost out to Vancouver and Sochi in bids for the last two Winter Games.

“I am satisfied with the result. We owe a debt to the people. We will do our best,” Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-sun was quoted by the Korea Times from a press conference.

“I think we can host the Olympics. We promoted PyeongChang worldwide during the previous bids. Now we will win the hearts of the International Olympic Committee commissioners. We have experience. We will contact them man-to-man,” he said.

Kim said compact competition venues including ski jumping and biathlon were already in place in Pyeongchang, which is a town of about 46,000 people.

“In addition, PyeongChang has kept its promise to the Olympic Movement by carrying out the Dream Program every year and hosting other winter sporting events… we will seek a close cooperation with the KOC as well as the government for the successful bid,” he said in a separate statement Thursday.

Pyeongchang officials say the city’s successful staging of three international championships this year and creation of new facilities will increase its chances of winning the right to host the 2018 Games this time around.

The city has new courses for ski jumping, cross-country events and the biathlon. They were completed this year at a cost of $63 million as part of Pyeongchang’s ambitions to host the 2018 Olympics. Seven out of the 13 required sites are said to be ready; another six need to be built if the city is awarded the Games.

News of the KOC’s decision brings disappointment for Busan, Korea’s second-largest city, which had hoped to get the green light to bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics. There had been speculation that the KOC might abandon plans to support Pyeongchang after its failed bids in 2010 and 2014 and get behind Busan instead.

Busan’s sports chiefs today congratulated Pyeongchang officials but promised to revive the city’s Summer Olympic ambitions Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin Sun has been a driving force for the bids from PyeongChang. (ATR)if PyeongChang failed to succeed in its 2018 bid effort.

“I am disappointed with the decision,” a Busan official was quoted by the Korea Times. “We worked overtime this month. I feel empty.”

Busan Mayor Hur Nam-sik expressed his disappointment, saying the Summer Olympics was of more benefit to his country than the winter edition and insisting that PyeongChang had received special treatment.

If Pyeongchang wins final government approval for its 2018 bid, it would face strong competition from Munich, Germany and the French Alpine resort of Annecy. Bids from other countries may also surface in the coming months. The success of the PyeongChang bid could also hinge on the outcome of the race for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Should Tokyo win the Oct. 2 vote, the odds could grow longer for an Asian candidate for the 2018 Games.

The IOC formally launches the 2018 bid process after the selection of the 2016 Olympic host at the IOC Session in Copenhagen. The IOC deadline for submitting applicant cities is mid-October. The IOC votes on the host city in Durban, South Africa in July 2011.

With reporting from Mark Bisson.

For general comments or questions,

click here