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PyeongChang Adds Experience to Olympics Bid
This is the latest in a series of profiles of the seven cities hoping to bid for the 2014 Olympics. Gathered on-the-scene, these profiles will continue through this week, with Salzburg, Sochi and Sofia still to come. Profiles of Almaty, Borjomi and Jaca are already online.
Photo Galleries of the 2014 cities are now on line. click here to see the PyeongChang photo gallery.
To view the dossier submitted to the IOC by PyeongChang, click here.
(ATR) The mountainous province of Gangwon, which contains PyeongChang and the other venues proposed for the 2014 Olympics, is already one of the most important winter sports destinations in Asia.
Organizers of the South Korean bid say an Olympics in PyeongChang would do even more to stimulate interest in winter sports for this part of the world. And they point to other potential legacies, economic and political, that they say deserve serious consideration by the IOC in the selection of a 2014 host.
Not much has changed in a physical sense since the 2010 bid. The proposal for 2014 uses the same venues, spread across Gangwon Province, the governmental unit which is leading the push for the Games.
But the leader of the bid, Gangwon Province Governor Jin Sun Kim, says this second try for the Games is bolstered by experience and continued preparations.
Gangwon Province Governor Jin Sun Kim is executive president of PyeongChang 2014. (ATR)
"I'd like to clearly demonstrate that Gangwon is actually delivering all that it promised during the 2010 bidding process, in all the commitments we made and all the plans we presented during that period," Kim told Around the Rings during an interview at his office in the provincial capital of Chuncheong.
He points to new roadwork and the advance of plans for a new high speed rail line and venues needed to be built for the Olympics.
Wonju, the Hockey City
The first stop on ATR's recent tour of Gangwon province began in Wonju, site for ice hockey. It is the closest of the PyeongChang venues to Seoul, about 110 km away.
Two new arenas would be built in the city, population 300,000. After the Games one becomes a basketball arena for the city's team and the other a sports facility for the university where it would be located. While the facilities would be legacies, hockey is not included in the after-games use of the arenas.
The design for one of the Wonju hockey arenas. (ATR)
With Wonju off the normal tourist track in South Korea, the experience of both spectators and athletes would need to be addressed. Few Western-style accommodations or eating places seem to be in evidence.
Located nearly 100 km from the main Olympic Village in PyeongChang, Wonju would have to provide a satellite Olympic Village for the 200-plus athletes and officials who would take part in the men's and women's hockey tournaments. The distance from PyeongChang will mean a long commute every day for hockey federation leaders who need to lodge there.
Downtown Wonju, the city that will host hockey in the PyeongChang bid. (ATR)
The proposed high speed (200 kmh) rail line from Seoul to Gangwon Province is to include Wonju as the first stop on its Olympic run. That means Seoul could serve as a base for hockey fans willing to spend cash and time on the 90 minutes or more a day needed to get to matches in Wonju. Highway expansion between Seoul and Wonju could cut as much as 20 minutes off the drive.
The transport situation gets more complicated for anyone with plans to include hockey and another event in one day. From Wonju to the next closest venue -- snowboard and sliding events -- is 40km. Gangneung, the coastal city that will host figure skating, curling and speed skating, is nearly 125km away.
Clearly a recurring transport theme, the high speed rail line, with an undisclosed multi-billion dollar price tag, is viewed as the solution to connect these dispersed venues.
Work is already underway to improve the road from PyeongChang to Jungbong. (ATR)
In addition to the rail line, PyeongChang already is served by a high-quality expressway that is to be expanded in the years ahead. Nearly all the venues are located just a few minutes away from the expressway, a factor that makes it a crucial part of a PyeongChang bid, regardless of the high speed rail plans.
Existing Venues a Strength
Though disjointed, the venues of PyeongChang offer some promise for winter sports. The Hyundai Sungwoo Resort, site of snowboard events, is already on the calendar to host the 2009 FIS World Championships.
The piste at the Hyundai Sangwoo Resort (in April) where snowboard events will be held. The bobsleigh course would be built on the left. (ATR)
Still to be built at the resort is the track for bob, luge and skeleton, which will be located just to the side of the snowboard pistes.
Thousands of beds already exist at the resort and adjoining condominiums. All are located just off the expressway, making the resort seem like a good fit for the Olympics. Athletes, however, may not care for the 50 km journey to and from the PyeongChang Olympic Village.
Edging 20 km closer to the PyeongChang village is Bokwang Phoenix Park, another winter resort that would host the freestyle events. Like the Hyundai resort, Phoenix Park has existing hotel and condominium space and is close to the expressway.
PyeongChang at the Center
The geographic center of the South Korean Games, PyeongChang, is 40 km further east along the expressway. Home to South Korea's most popular ski resort, Yong Pyeong, or Dragon Valley, this hideaway is 200 km from Seoul, and even further to Incheon Airport, the main international gateway to South Korea.
Dragon Valley Resort during the height of the ski season. (ATR)
Dragon Valley Resort is already in use as a FIS World Cup venue for slalom events.
The resort hotel is slated for use by the IOC, but the rooms will need substantial refurbishment to come up to the standards of other resorts in the region built since Dragon Valley opened 30 years ago.
The city of PyeongChang, population 50,000, is more of a commercial hub than tourist attraction. No venues are actually planned for the center of town. But Mayor Hyeok Seung Kwon tells Around the Rings he hopes the city can create an international zone that will cater to Olympic visitors. This would include a wide array of restaurants, something currently lacking from the PyeongChang scene.
Big Dreams Called Alpensia
The eye-popping project on the drawing boards for PyeongChang calls for the creation of a brand new resort called Alpensia.
Planned for a 1200-acre site a few km from PyeongChang and Dragon Valley , more than $1.1 billion is budgeted for the project. Funding will come from public and private sources.
The Alpensia resort would be built on this site near PyeongChang. (ATR)
Divided into two zones, Alpensia's Winter Olympic zone will include venues for cross country, ski jump and biathlon, the stadium for opening and closing ceremonies, the Main Press Center and an International Broadcast Center. The residential zone will include the main Olympic Village, a Media Village and 450-room hotel.
While some paved streets meander through the site, it is undeveloped, except for equipment and trails currently used for biathlon competition. Already up to international standards, the course will be used for the 2009 world championships.
PyeongChang already has an internationally approved biathlon course, to be used for the 2009 world championships. (ATR)
Given the Alpensia site's otherwise natural and unspoiled setting, it is difficult to imagine the transformation that would have to take place to make it suitable as the living and working space for more than 5,000 journalists and the home for nearly 3,000 athletes and officials.
On top of that, Alpensia also would have to meet the demands for services that arise with tens of thousands of spectators who will come for the sport and ceremonies for the nearly three weeks of the Games.
With athletes coming and going to other venues, journalists doing the same thing and spectators heading to the Alpensia venues, a high level of traffic management will be needed to keep everybody moving.
Downhill Will Take Care
Another venue that requires imagination is the all-important downhill, about 30 minutes from PyeongChang in the now-rustic hamlet of Jungbong. The venue currently is an unspoiled mountain which would need clearing for ski runs and ski lift construction. What would be the finish line and support area now is pasture and small farmed plots.
The hamlet of Jungbong would be transformed as an Olympic venue. (ATR)
The Jungbong site has been visited by FIS technical experts and has their approval as a potential downhill. But given its remote location and natural appeal, a new ski resort in Jungbong may be loaded with questions about sustainable development. Today, Jungbong has no services, such as lodging, restaurants or shops, all of which will be needed in some degree for the Olympics.
Already work is underway to improve the winding road that leads from PyeongChang to Jungbong. The 25 km isn't that far to travel compared to downhills in past Olympics. But with more than 50 bends in the road, the trip can be weary.
Gangwon Governor Kim says the work underway now shows commitment to bring about the changes needed to stage the Games in PyeongChang.
"I believe our road preparation for all of the Games will be better than in any parts of the world for all of the Games," says Kim.
"Actually, I've been to Vancouver and Torino before, but compared to those sites I'm just proud of our road conditions in my province," says the Governor.
Gangneung, Coastal Venue
The eastern-most set of venues in the PyeongChang bid are in the interesting coastal city of Gangneung, population 230,000. All of the skating sports plus curling would be held in a pair of venues located next to one another on the edge of the city, just over 200 km from Seoul, 240km from the Incheon International Airport.
A new speedskating oval is planned for this site on the edge of Gangneung. (ATR)
An Olympic Village is planned for one of Gangneung's shoreline hotels, which would be the third village for PyeongChang organizers to oversee and manage.
Marquee events such as figure skating and speed skating will attract some of the largest packs of journalists during the Games (not to mention crowds). Those numbers could force the duplication of press and broadcast services offered in the PyeongChang MPC/IBC complex, 40 minutes away.
Best known among Koreans as a summer vacation spot, Gangneung still has a winter sports heritage. It played host, along with PyeongChang, to the 1999 Asian Winter Games.
The only existing ice rink for the PyeongChang bid is in Gangneung. (ATR)
In 2009 the women's world championships in curling will be held at the Gangneung Indoor Ice Rink, the only existing venue in the PyeongChang plan with an ice surface. The same venue will be used for Olympic curling, while a new arena will be built for figure skating and speed skating.
Given its seaside setting and population, Gangneung may have the most personality of all of the Gangwon Province cities involved with the bid. Organizers have not declared where they would have a medals plaza, but some bid officials say Gangneung is a possibility.
Gangneung is chock-a-block with seafood restaurants and shops that cater to the millions of Korean visitors who come in the summer. Historical sites, museums and national parks are nearby. Not so popular with visitors in February due to cold and sometimes stormy weather, Gangneung's coastal location at least keeps the snow and ice away.
While PyeongChang bid materials name Yangyang Airport north of Gangneung as an alternate international gateway to the PyeongChang Olympics, the prospect of regular traffic from non-Korean carriers seems slim.
Airline connections from Incheon to Gangneung are a possible remedy to the three to four hour journey by car or bus needed to cover the distance. The planned Seoul to Gangneung high speed rail would be the other transit alternative. But travel times, including transfers from Incheon, could still hit three hours or more to Gangneung, even with a 200km per hour train part of the way.
Political Strength
While PyeongChang's Olympics bid calls for an extensive and expensive construction schedule, there seem to be no qualms among the public about seeking the Winter Olympics.
Public support is high: 92 percent across Korea, nearly 97 percent in Gangwon Province.
The leader of the bid, Gangwon Governor Jin Sun Kim, was reelected in May to a new four-year term. It is his third, and he is pledging to do all he can to bring the Games to South Korea.
A staff of about 30 works in this headquarters office for PyeongChang 2014 in the provincial capital of Chuncheon.
At the national level, President Moo Hyun Roh is in favor of the bid, even though the opposition party in power in Gangwon Province.
Kim says it shows that the desire to host successful Winter Olympics cuts across party lines.
Support from the Korean Olympic Committee, which the IOC expects to be a full partner with the bid committee, is also crucial to the bid. Despite rumors of strained relations between the KOC and bid committee, both Governor Kim and KOC President Jung Kil Kim insist all is well.
"PyeongChang is number one," is how the KOC leader describes priority of the Winter Olympics bid.
"There will be no problem in terms of our relationship with the KOC," says Governor Kim.
More delicate may be the relationship with the IOC, with South Korea down to one active member. Kun Hee Lee is also chairman of industrial giant and worldwide Olympic sponsor Samsung. South Korea 's other IOC member, Yong Sung Park, is suspended from the IOC while he waits for the results of an appeal of his conviction for maintaining a slush fund at his company, one of Korea's biggest.
"Of course, having more IOC members would be an advantage to our international campaign," says the governor.
"But after our first bid, more members know about PyeongChang," he says, indicating that he and other members of the PyeongChang team will be able to lead the international campaign, should the IOC include the South Korean bid on the short list June 22.
"I feel a competitive spirit," he says.
Your best source of news about the race for 2014 is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.
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