PyeongChang to Bid for 2018 Olympics
South Korea Bidding to be the Host of the 23rd Winter Olympiad
Jan 6, 2009
After two previous attempts to host the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014 failed, PyeongChang has announced that it will be bidding to host the Games for a third time.
PyeongChang’s Failed Olympic Bids
In the bidding process for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, PyeongChang made it to the final two candidates on both occasions.
Despite receiving more votes in the first round of voting for both Games, PyeongChang ended up losing as voters for the eliminated candidate sided with PyeongChang’s adversary in the final round.
PyeongChang’s 2018 Winter Olympic Bid
It has been reported that PyeongChang will do everything in its power to secure the right to host the Winter Olympics this time around.
Last year a report stated that the PyeongChang had a detailed plan in place to construct a training track for both bobsleigh and skeleton.
Also, last March it was reported that the proposed venues for the ski jump and cross-country were 51 per cent and 71 per cent completed.
A spokesman for Gangwon Province, where PyeongChang is located, is in a buoyant mood ahead of the bidding process as he said, “Hosting the Winter Olympics is a long dream of the South Korean people. We believe that we can succeed in our third attempt.”
Potential Problem for PyeongChang
It became evident a short time after losing the 2014 Games to Sochi that PyeongChang would bid for the Olympics again. Consequently, this time last year an IOC member said that another bid from PyeongChang would be a risk.
He made the point that the selling point used in the two previous bids of bringing peace to the Korean peninsula would begin to sound a little stale.
Europe Unlikely to Host 2018 Olympics
While the IOC does not adopt a rotation policy, it is extremely unlikely that a European candidate will be awarded the 2018 Olympics because the 2014 Games are going to be staged in Europe.
As a result, it is likely that bids from North America and Asia will be held in higher esteem than those from their European counterparts. It could, however, be argued that North America’s chances may well be diminished due to the fact that the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Other bids from Asia are likely to be Almaty, Kazakhstan and Harbin, China.
Almaty is scheduled to host the 2011 Asian Winter Games, while Harbin has hosted the Asian Winter Games in the past and will also play host to the 2009 Winter Universiade. Therefore both potential candidates will have invaluable experience at hosting big multi-sport events, something that PyeongChang lacks.
References:
PyeongChang to Bid for 2018 Winter Games
IOC Member Assesses Olympic Bids
 |
