Asian Olympic Hosts Seek Seamless Transition Between Games

(ATR) Also: NHL players in PyeongChang receives one "great" endorsement.

Guardar

(ATR) PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics leaders say their partnership will ensure the next two Winter Games are successful.

PyeongChang 2018 president Hee-beom Lee met with Beijing 2022 president Jinlong Guo on the sidelines of the World Winter Sports Expo and Forum currently underway in Beijing.

"We will not only stage a successful Olympic Games, but also use this opportunity to create a new partnership for our next generation," said Lee during his keynote address. "Collaboration and exchange will be our key in shaping this new future."

PyeongChang will host the first of three consecutive Olympics in Asia, followed by the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

"With PyeongChang 2018 as a start, three Olympics held in Korea, China, and Japan over the course of four years will draw the attention of the world to North East Asia," said Lee.

Lee and Guo were joined in their meeting by Beijing 2022 executive president Peng Liu to talk about ways to strengthen the partnership between the three host cities and methods to transfer knowledge, utilize sponsorships and competition venues as well as organizing joint projects.

The leaders of each organizing committee will meet again during the Rio 2016 debriefing being held in Tokyo at the end of November.

‘Great One’ Urges NHL Olympic Participation

National Hockey League legend Wayne Gretzky says there is no tournament like the Olympic Games.

Gretzky told Canadian media that the recently concluded World Cup of Hockey run by the NHL cannot compete with ice hockey in the Olympics. He added that while both tournaments have the world’s top players, the atmosphere of the Olympics makes it incomparable.

"I always say for me everything was great," Gretzky said. "Being in the village with all the athletes, and walking in the commissary and seeing some of the greatest athletes in the world, I was like a little kid; it was so overwhelming for me. I loved it."

Currently, NHL player participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics is in doubt as the NHL and IOC sort out who will pay out-of-pocket expenses for player travel and competition. The International Ice Hockey Federation has set a deadline of January 2017 for the issue to be resolved. NHL players have gone to every Winter Olympics since 1998 in Nagano.

"I don’t know what the answer is," Gretzky said. "Like everything else, there’s a business side to the component [and] we have to overcome that hurdle. They’ve got to figure out a way to make it happen."

Written by Kevin Nutleyand Aaron Bauer

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

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

Guardar

Últimas Noticias

Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore

Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation chief of sport development Luke Bodensteiner says there is a “real urgency to make this happen in 2030”. He discusses the mission of the non-profit organization, the legacy from the 2002 Winter Games and future ambitions.
Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore

IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing

Thomas Bach, in an open letter on Friday, also thanked stakeholders for their “unprecedented” efforts to make Tokyo 2020 a success despite the pandemic.
IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing

Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts

The IOC says issues concerning governance, finance, and refereeing and judging must be sorted out to its satisfaction. AIBA says it’s confident that will happen and the federation will be reinstated.
Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts

IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power

Thomas Bach says the Afghanistan NOC remains under IOC recognition, noting that the current leadership was democratically elected in 2019. But he says the IOC will be monitoring what happens in the future. The story had been revealed on August 31 in an article by Miguel Hernandez in Around the Rings
IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power

North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022

Playbooks for Beijing 2022 will ”most likely” be released in October, according to IOC President Thomas Bach.
North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022