Plenty of Work Ahead for PyeongChang 2018

(ATR) International Olympic Committee coordination commission chair Gunilla Lindberg says that PyeongChang 2018 organizers still have "lots of work to do."

Lindberg and the IOC Co-comm completed their sixth inspection visit to PyeongChang on Wednesday. The latest three-day visit by the IOC inspection team comes just under two years until the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Korea.

Organizers recently finished staging the first three of 28 scheduled test events — Alpine skiing, snowboard and freestyle skiing World Cup events — generating mostly positive feedback from athletes and technical experts.

However, a recent pre-homologation test at the Alpensia Sliding Center was fraught with problems leaving international lugers frustrated. Sixteen lugers were unable to slide the track from the top as sufficient ice could not be produced due to technical difficulties and warm weather.

"There is still a lot of work to do, but PyeongChang 2018 is on track to deliver a great Olympic Winter Games for Korea and the world," Lindberg said at a news conference on Wednesday. "We are pleased with what we have seen and heard during our visit."

Lindberg and others at the news conference addressed the difficulties that organizers faced at the Alpensia Sliding Center.

"Unfortunately, there were some problems with the ice, so they have to do it again," Lindberg said referring to the homologation inspection. "But this is the purpose of the test event – you test and improve."

"In the machinery room, there was a problem with a pump and whether it’s the problem with the pump or the refrigeration circulation system, we need to conduct accurate analysis in the future," said PyeongChang secretary general Yeo Hyungkoo. "With these events, we locate any issues with construction status and we perfect all the construction elements."

Fielding a question from Korean television KBS, Yeo denied that any illegal domestic code practices were violated in burying the pipe within the concrete.

Organizers and athletes will now wait until autumn to try again.

PyeongChang 2018 president Cho Yang-ho also addressed the mostly Korean media thanking the IOC for its guidance and support.

"This Coordination Commission meeting has been a very productive few days for all of us, sharing constructive feedback and expertise," Cho said. "As we move into the critical operational phase of the Games, I would like to thank the IOC and international federations for the continued guidance and support. The strong partnership that we share is instrumental to our success."

The PyeongChang 2016 chief added: "As we have seen with our first test events, our continued cooperation is essential to hosting a great Games."

The number of events and workload for PyeongChang 2018 will soon increase dramatically, with 24 test events set for next winter sports season.

"We have more work to do and it will really intensify after Rio," Lindberg said. "We are confident in the success of these Games."

The next test event will be World Cup short track speed skating, scheduled for December at the new Gangneung Ice Arena.

"From the IOC perspective, there is nothing better than seeing athletes on the field of play," said IOC Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi. "It was an incredible pre-Olympic boon here last month and it will continue with 24 more test events next season."

Cho and his team along with members of the Korean Olympic Committee and sports ministry spent Tuesday updating the IOC on recent test events and venue construction as well as other aspects of Games preparations.

Lindberg said the IOC delegation had a "very good and productive" first day in PyeongChang when the inspection team received updates and visited some of the venues in the Gangneung cluster. They toured the curling and hockey venues and the Olympic and media villages. She reported there were no major changes to the Olympic venue plan.

Lindberg also noted that the construction of five new hotels have been approved in the city and mountains of PyeongChang.

Before leaving PyeongChang, Lindberg joined Cho in a signing ceremony for the newest Pyeongchang 2018 partner, Lotte, a leading lifestyle company whose business areas include food, retail, hospitality, entertainment and construction. With the signing, PyeongChang has reached nearly 70 percent of its sponsorship goals.

Written by Brian Pinelli

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