Time, Experts Essential for Delivery of PyeongChang Test Events -- On the Scene

(ATR) Coordination Commisson chair Gunilla Lindberg asserted the IOC’s confidence that PyeongChang 2018 will deliver successful test events next year, but stressed that there is "no time to lose."

Sitting adjacent to POCOG president Yang Ho Cho at the closing news conference of the IOC’s three-day visit to Gangneung, Lindberg said, "With the first test events less than one year away, POCOG and its partners will need to focus simultaneously on multiple objectives over the next year to deliver them successfully."

International experts will play an integral role in assisting POCOG accomplish this task.

"Some areas that we have to speed up are the experts coming here to help organize the test events," Lindberg said. "This is one of the urgent issues, and we’ve discussed this."

Currently, four international consultants in the various winter sports are working closely with the South Korean organizers. Twenty-eight experts are expected to be in place by next February, when the first test events in alpine skiing and freestyle/snowboarding are scheduled.

"In Korea, we do not have much experience in winter sports, and we lack the expertise," Cho conceded. "That is why we are bringing in experts to give training to the Korean personnel."

"It is not uncommon at all," said IOC Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi, "You have to have expertise from previous Games and usually they are foreign."

Lindberg also said that progress has been made regarding construction of venues and that the creation of the new Winter Sports Foundation will be beneficial in delivering 28 test events. On Tuesday, the IOC visited the ice venue sites in Gangneung and the future bobsleigh track in Alpensia.

"We are satisfied with the progress and momentum," said Lindberg, who is serving on her sixth coordination commission. "We were here in January and have seen big progress."

Also discussed was the newly inked national sponsorship of Korean Air, the announcement and signing ceremony coming on Wednesday. In addition to leading POCOG, Cho is also the chairman of the conglomerate that owns the airlines.

"The Olympic rings will not be attached to the airplanes because we are a local sponsor, but we can use the rings inside the plane," Cho advised. "We will follow the rules specified to local sponsors.

When asked about the terms of the deal, Cho said: "I don’t think we can really speak about finances yet."

Cho noted that all efforts are being taken to bring more sponsors on board as soon as possible to ensure the financial success of the Games.

"In the success of the Winter Games, many potential sponsors want to contribute themselves, but we need to approach them one-by-one," Cho said. "We are working with our government to help speed up the process so we can secure the maximum number of sponsors possible."

In one of the most pressing questions being asked by South Korean media, IOC marketing executive Timo Lumme clarified that a local partner in the automobile sponsorship category could come on board for 2018, despite the IOC’s recent deal with new top sponsor Toyota Motor Corporation

"If POCOG wishes to negotiate and conclude an agreement for a local sponsorship in the territory of Korea for cars, automobiles and mobility then they will be able to do that," Lumme said, addressing a scrum of South Korean media following the news conference.

Cho and PyeongChang 2018 secretary general Young-jin Kwak both stressed that one of the keys to creating a buzz for the first Winter Games in South Korea, will be the success of its athletes. Short track speed skaters and figure skating gold medalist Yuna Kim have led the way in previous Games, but traditionally the Asian nation hasn’t had a big presence in winter sports.

"In order to stoke the national interest, we of course need medalists like Yuna Kim," Cho said of the retired skater and PyeongChang 2018 Games Ambassador. "The Korean Olympic Association is doing their part to train these athletes.

"Koreans are unfamiliar with winter sports, but they need to be spectators and go thru the educational programs that we are offering."

Kwak advised that an Engagement program in Korean schools will be in "full force" by the end of this year.

"By 2018, winter sports will be popular in Korea," said the PyeongChang secretary general.

At the recent World Junior Snowboard Championships in China, two young South Korean snowboarders won medals, evidence that the nation is making gains in snow sports.

Cho also discussed POCOG’s effort to recruit and train volunteers, admitting that it has been a problem.

Written by Brian Pinelliin PyeongChang

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