The IOC accepted South Korea's venue plans for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang on Friday after organizers declined its request to move events to save money. The International Olympic Committee also warned that timelines are "tight" and urged organizers to speed up preparations for the games. "The venue master plan for the Pyeongchang 2018 Games has been finalized," theIOC and Korean organizers said in a joint statement following a two-day project review by the IOC's coordination commission.
last month, the IOC urged Korean organizers to halt construction on a new bobsled, luge and skeleton venue and relocate the events to an existing sliding center in another country. The IOC said the move would save $120 million in construction costs and $3.5 million in yearly maintenance fees. But the South Korean government and local organizers rejected the proposal. They also ruled out sharing events with North Korea, as proposed by some South Korean politicians.
Under the "Olympic Agenda 2020" reform package approved last month by the IOC, organizers have the option to hold events outside the host city to save money and avoid white elephants. But the Pyeongchang organizing committee, known as POCOG, chose to stick to its original plans. "The approval of the Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations by the IOC created the opportunity for the Korean organizers to propose hosting sports or disciplines outside the host city in order to maximize legacies and minimize costs where feasible," IOC coordination commission chair Gunilla lindberg said.
"Since then, both POCOG and their government partners have made it clear that they will maintain their current venue plan. As a result, the venue master plan is now finalized." The IOC had said a dozen different bobsled and luge tracks around the world could step in to host the sliding competitions. One option was Nagano, Japan, which hosted the 1998 Winter Games. But moving the competitions to Japan would be a tough sell in South Korea because of the difficult relations between the neighbors over their history.
lindberg offered a mixed review of overall preparations for the first Winter Games in Korea, saying "good progress has been made" since the last visit but that "timelines in a number of areas remain tight, including ahead of test events starting in 2016. "The Pyeongchang organizing committee and its partners must continue to accelerate their work and reorganization in order to ensure the successful delivery of the venues and related services," she said.
Cho Yang-ho took over as head of POCOG last year after the sudden resignation of the previous president, Kim Jin-sun. Cho is also chairman of Korean Air lines. His daughter, Cho Hyun-ah, was arrested last month after delaying a plane because her macadamia nuts were not served the way she wanted in the so-called "nut rage" case.
"I feel great responsibility to ensure Pyeongchang's success," Cho said in Friday's statement. "You have my assurances that I am fully committed to the games through 2018." The full IOC coordination commission will visit Pyeongchang in March.
Boston clears first hurdle in bid for 2024 oly
Boston: Boston's bid for the 2024 Summer Games won over the national governing body with a cost-effective and athlete-friendly proposal that would help reverse the trend toward ever-more expensive Olympics. One day after the U.S. Olympic Committee selected Boston as the American nominee over San Francisco, los Angeles and Washington, local bid organizers said Friday they will draw on the more than 100 colleges in the area to host events and house athletes and media — and save millions or billions in construction costs.
Boston's victory in the first stage means its bid will be presented in September to the IOC, which will vote on the host city in 2017. The bid has already attracted opposition from a group called No Boston Olympics, which complains that the process was conducted in secret and hosting the games will divert resources from more important civic needs like education and infrastructure.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh pledged to keep his priorities straight and said Olympic planning would not take over his term. He announced at the news conference the first nine community meetings to discuss plans with residents. "I promise that this will be the most open and transparent and inclusive process in Olympic history," he said.
Rome, France, Germany, Hungary and South Africa are also expected to submit bids.