Pyeong Chang is chosen to host the 23rd Winter Olympics in 2018 beating two European rivals Wednesday in a landslide vote - Munich (Germany) and Annecy (France) - in the first round of a secret ballot of the International Olympic Committee. Needing 48 votes for victory, Pyeongchang received 63 of the 95 votes cast. Munich received 25 and Annecy seven.
"Koreans have been waiting for 10 years to host the Winter Games," bid leader Cho Yang-ho said. "Now we have finally achieved our dream."
Pyeongchang will be the first city in Asia outside Japan to host the Winter Games. Japan held the games in Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.
The lucky charm for Korea was the Star figure-skater and World Champion: Yuna Kim. Since her presentation at IOC ... she was all over the news - getting praise for her presentation - which is a contributing factor for bringing Olympics to South Korea(besides other factors & the politics involved).
Congratulations PYEONG CHANG (평장)!!
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sarahinsouthkorea
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI've been a silent lurker reading your blog..hehe. Really glad that Pyeongchang is selected. I used to stay in Jinbu during my WWOOFing stint and imagining the changes due to the Olympics for Jinbu already.
-Zarina-
Hello Zarina,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visits to this blog.
You are right, 20 trillion won budget - to improve the infra structure - for these 2018 winter olympics. I have to do a whole post on how these olympics will create jobs and also will develop the entire region of Gangwondo.