SOCHI - The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) welcomed over 350 visitors and international press to PyeongChang House for the event to mark "Four Years To Go" until the opening ceremony of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, IOC Coordination Commission Chair and IOC Honorary President Jacques Rogge, Executive Board Member Gunilla Lindberg, Sochi 2014 President and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko were in attendance to celebrate with POCOG President Kim J.S., Vice-President and Secretary General, Moon Donghoo, and Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) President Kim Jung-haeng. The attendance included numerous IOC members, TOP Sponsors, Rights Holding Broadcasters, Korean and International Media, IOC administration, NOC and IF officials, and Olympians.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said, "I wish the PyeongChang 2018 team continued success in their work to deliver great Games for the athletes and in creating new horizons for sports fans from across the planet through PyeongChang House during Sochi 2014. "Four years from today, the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games will begin and the best winter athletes of their generation will become Olympians."
"The journey of those athletes and of the Korean people towards PyeongChang 2018 is now well underway and the presence here in Sochi of the PyeongChang 2018 House shows us all the progress that has been made and reminds us of the vision that the PyeongChang Organizing Committee is working to deliver."
President Kim, added, "This year will be a very critical time four years out to the staging of the Games in preparation for the success of PyeongChang2018. We will strive to host the best Games that will truly open up "New Horizons."
Coordination Commission Chair, Gunilla Lindberg said, "I would like to commend PyeongChang 2018 for creating this wonderful House in Sochi and I am certain that this exhibition area will allow countless fans and athletes to discover the vision of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
"As we enter the last four years before PyeongChang’s Games begin, I am confident that PyeongChang 2018 will be a great success and that the athletes will be very happy with the conditions that await them. When the Olympic spotlight turns to PyeongChang in just 14 days’ time, I believe that the world will be surprised and enchanted by what they discover."
The guests were treated to two styles of Korean dancing, traditional in costumes from the Gangwon Performing Arts Company and then a girls dancing team called "Flashe" took the floor and changed the tempo and brought on some Hallyu K-Pop numbers ending with the popular number "Gangnam Style" by Korean superstar PSY.
PyeongChang House is located in Sochi Olympic Park and will showcase the highlights of the host city and the Republic of Korea, located just near the footbridge leading up to the center of the Olympic Cluster.
The interior design of PyeongChang House is inspired by traditional Korean architecture, called hanok while the outside displays the colorful logo branding for the Olympics and Paralympics. It will be a meeting point for the PyeongChang 2018
observer program participants and the Korean Olympic Team during the Olympics and the Paralympics.
The XXIII Olympiad will be held in the mountain cluster of PyeongChang and the Coastal Cluster of Gangneung and will host the world’s elite of winter sports for 17 days from 9 to 25 February 2018.
For more information, contact J.S. RYU, Media Director, at j.s.ryu@pyeongchang2018.com, or at +7.938.4545807.
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