Mixed Emotions in PyeongChang as Winter Games Near -- ATRadio

(ATR) The final countdown to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics is on, following the one year to go milestone last week in South Korea.

Around the Rings reporter Aaron Bauer was on the scene for the one year to go countdown, venue tours provided by the PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee and test events.

Bauer says it is hard to gauge the excitement from South Korean citizens because of the polar opposite views that many residents he spoke to have of the Olympics.

"The sentiment I got from Koreans was twofold: either completely apathetic towards the Games or really excited and had this patriotic sense that the Games need to be successful," Bauer says on the latest edition of ATRadio.

Bauer also compares PyeongChang’s preparations to those of Rio de Janeiro prior to last summer’s Olympics in Brazil.

"I didn’t see any venues that were behind schedule, especially coming from Rio where there were absolutely a bunch of venues behind schedule," Bauer says, recalling his experience stationed in Rio covering the build up to the Games. "Organizers say that construction is complete on all of the venues a year out which makes sense because there is such a limited time for winter sports to take place.

"They need to have all the venues ready to go for the test events this year because they are high-level, ticketed test events unlike Rio which were just testing the field of play," he says.

Athletes will continue to test venues throughout February with the FIL Luge World Cup, World Curling Junior World Championships and FIS Snowboarding and Freestyle Skiing World Cups all taking place in South Korea.

Listen below to Bauer’s full breakdown of the one year to go preparations for the Games.

Written by Kevin Nutley

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.