2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee (POBICO), chaired by Cho Yang-ho, signed the submission of the candidate file, with over 30 committee officials including Cho Yang-ho,Bid Committee Chairman and CEO; Park Yong-seong, KOC chairperson; Lee Gwang-jae, the governor of Gangwon-do; and Lee Seok-rae, mayor of Pyeongchang County were present at the Seoul Press Center on January 6.
In early 2010, POBICO organized the 'Dream Team' in which experts from diverse fields have participated, to perfect the Candidate File of three volumes and 385 pages while differentiating the county from their rival candidates. The candidate File answers 261 detailed questions in 17 categories and 236 guarantee items that are required by the IOC.
Particularly, this Candidate File is focusing on Pyeongchang's unique agenda that includes:
- ① Expansion of winter sports throughout Asia
- ② Compact concept to embody athlete-oriented Olympic games
- ③ Convenient and safe transportation system via multimodal network
- ④ Pyeongchang's evolution with experience gained from the two previous bids
"Experts from each field made remarkable efforts to give the best answers to IOC's questions," explained Mr. Cho at the signing event. "We will do our utmost to convince IOC executive board, highlighting Pyeongchang's improvement and suitability during IOC's inspection and international conference in February."
Meanwhile, IOC is scheduled to visit and inspect Pyeongchang (based on the candidate file) from February 14 to February 20. POBICO is planning to disclose the candidature file to the public as soon as IOC confirms its approval.
Pyeongchang's merits
The IOC has already expressed that they consider Pyeongchang to be the best bid in many aspects, and the city has nearly completed the expansion of its infrastructure such as transportation and stadium facilities, as promised to the IOC. Seven facilities (six on snow, one on the ice) out of 13 (eight on snow, five on the ice) have been completed.
As for the six Olympic facilities - IOC hotel, two Olympic villages, two media villages, and the IPC·MPC hotel have been completed, and construction of the rest will be commenced after Pyeongchang wins the bid.
Construction of a double subway track line between Wonju and Gangreung, the second Yongdong expressway, and the expansion of the national highway No.59 are currently in the works.
IOC officials and other international sports authorities, who visited the region for the 2009 Snowboard competition, Biathlon, and Women's Curling World Championship, expressed a pleasant surprise that they "did not expect that [Pyeongchang] would be so well prepared already," adding, "the city could host the Olympics right now."
Moreover, Pyeongchang has hosted 55 competitions since 1997 including the 2009 Snowboard competition, Biathlon, and the Women's Curling World Championship.
As promised to the IOC during the bidding process in 2010, the city has invited the youth from countries with no winter sports to promote the Dream Program. This program provides winter sports instruction and continuous culture exchange while enhancing its credit on the international sports stage. The Dream Program has welcomed 806 participants from 42 countries between 2004 and 2010.
In order to expand the sphere of winter sports, continuous efforts have been made to foster professional winter sports teams and develop Pyeongchang and Gangreung as the center of winter sports.
In terms of national support, which constitutes a big part of IOC's evaluation criteria, Pyeongchang has shown over 90 percent of support from the public during the 2014 bidding, far exceeding other rival cities.
