Barcelona (ESP), Friday, July 19, 2013 – Gwangju (KOR) was selected today by FINA, the International Swimming Federation, as the host for the 18th FINA World Championships in 2019.
It was a great week for Korea’s fifth largest city, Gwangju. After receiving the FISU Universiade flag in Kazan (RUS) on Wednesday as the next host of the event in 2015, the city was selected today by FINA, the world governing body for aquatic sports as the host of the 2019 edition of the FINA World Championships.
In a statement, the Mayor of the city of Gwangju, Kang Un-Tae said: "It is a great moment for our city. In just two days, we have had the honor to be entrusted with two of the world’s greatest sports events. While I was standing in the middle of the spectacular Kazan closing ceremony waving the Universiade flag as the next host, our strong team was already hard at work in Barcelona preparing for the crucial presentation in front of the FINA bureau. Today, when the FINA president opened the envelope to reveal Gwangju, I felt immensely proud of the sporting achievements of my great city over the last few years".
Yoon-Suk Kim, General Secretary of the Gwangju 2019 bid committee said: "I want to thank the FINA bureau for their trust, as well as the FINA staff for their great collaboration during the entire bid process. The FINA World Championships is one of the greatest events on the planet, and we want to say to the Aquatics sports family that their event is in good hands."
Mayor Kang Un-Tae added: "this event will now enable us to pursue our investments for Aquatics in the city and in the region. As the legacy of the World Championships in 2019, we will invest in the construction of a state of the art swimming center – "Aquatics City" - which will have a strong impact for the development of the sport in Korea and beyond".
The 100 people strong Korean delegation also included Dr Jung Haeng Kim, President of the Korean Olympic Committee, Ki-Heung Lee, President of the Korean Swimming Federation and Yong-Sung Park, former President of the Korean Olympic Committee.
Gwangju was in competition with Budapest (HUN), which was awarded the 2021 edition of the event.
For more information, please contact
Michelle Bae
Director of marketing and international affairs
Gwangju 2019 Bid Committee
Phone number: +82 10 4632 7238
Email: bmkyoung@gmail.com
Website: www.gwangju2019.com
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