On the Scene - Big Tests for Pyeongchang, 2018 Games Chief

Special Olympics Early Test for 2018

The latest winter edition of the Special Olympics is underway in Pyeongchang following an opening ceremony Jan. 29 at the Yongpyong Dome near the village.

The 5,000-seat arena was packed for the three-hour show, about half that time for the parade of more than 3,100 athletes from 110 countries.

The event is the biggest test for Pyeongchang since the town of 50,000 was awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics 18 months ago.

Cold weather has provided such a test, forcing a change in venue for the opening ceremony from an outdoor arena to the Yongpyong Dome. Seating was so tight that some media had to watch the ceremony from remote locations.

The Special Olympics World Winter Games run until Feb. 5 with competition in seven sports. These games for the intellectually disabled are held every two years, alternating between summer and winter sports.

Korean president Myung Bak Lee declared the games open.

The games are drawing well-known figures to support the Special Olympians, such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who spoke at the ceremony with figure skating gold medalist Yu Na Kim. Suu Kyi will keynote a conference on the intellectually disabled at the Alpensia Resort on Jan 30.

Other Olympians spotted at the ceremony included basketball star Yao Ming and 1964 swimming gold medalist Donna de Varona, both Special Olympics board members. The only IOC member attending was Princess Nora of Liechtenstein.

Also on hand were Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles, host city for the 2015 Special Olympics and David Simon, president of the LA Sports Council.

Pyeongchang Chief Leads Inaugural

Pyeongchang 2018 chairman Jin Sun Kim is also facing an early test of his organizational and political skills ahead of the Olympics. He is leading the planning for the Feb. 25 inaugural for the next president of Korea, Gyeun Hye Park.

The ceremony will likely attract worldwide attention as Park is the country’s first female head of state. As a legislator prior to her election in December as president, Park was known to support the bid for the Games.

Park will play a role guiding the government toward the staging of the Games, which includes security and infrastructure projects such as the high-speed rail line to the Olympic clusters in Gangwon Province.

Kim, ex-governor of Gangwon Province, is due to meet with a group of reporters Jan. 30 to talk more about the early stages of Games preparation as well as his duties with the president-elect.

IOC President Moves on to Korea

After a visit to Nanjing to have a look at work for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, IOC President Jacques Rogge touches down in Seoul on Wednesday.

He will sign the joint marketing agreement with Pyeongchang 2018, a document that will open the doors for the organizing committee to begin raising $500+ million in domestic sponsorship.

In his final months as IOC president, Rogge will make his first visit to Pyeongchang. He’ll inspect venues and watch some of the Special Olympics events.

On Feb. 1 he will end his trip to Korea with a meeting with President-elect Park and a press conference, both in Seoul.

Written and reported in Korea by Ed Hula

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