2018 Winter Olympics Awarded to South Korea city of Pyeongchang

posted by Shwetha M R on 2:00 PM | Permalink >> 0 Comments

There were a lot of tense people sitting in Seoul plaza in the South Korean capital on Wednesday night, eyes fixed on a big-screen television, waiting for the decision from the International Olympic Committee assembled in Durban, South Africa.

But the anticipation turned to celebration when IOC president Jacques Rogge named Pyeongchang as the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics. After two consecutive unsuccessful bids, Pyeongchang finally got its chance to host the games.

Ahn Kyoung An, who was in Seoul plaza, said she’s thrilled South Korea won this time. “We are also very stunned,” she said, “because we tried a lot of times.”

Third time was a charm for the South Korean city of Pyeongchang.The city had made two unsuccessful bids to host the Winter Olympics before (once in 2010 and again in 2014) but after a landslide vote on Wednesday, they finally managed to score the honor. The decision was made after the city snagged 63 of the 95 votes cast in the first round of International Olympic Committee voting.

The news was met with celebrations by the people of Pyeongchang, not to mention the Olympic bidding committee. Chairman Yang Ho-cho said that, "This is one of the happiest days for our country, our people and millions of youths dreaming of winter sport."

2018 Winter Olympics

PyeongChang 2018 Olympics Bid logo

Host city - Pyeongchang, South Korea
Motto - New Horizons
Events - 98 in 15 sports
Opening ceremony - 9 February
Closing ceremony - 25 February
Stadium -Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium

The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, is a winter multi-sport event scheduled to take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018.

Pyeongchang won on its third consecutive bid, having lost to Vancouver, Canada, and Sochi, Russia. It will be the first Winter Olympic Games in South Korea and second Olympic Games after the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. After a series of large cities (Nagano to Sochi), it is also the return, for the first time since the Games of Lillehammer in 1994, of the Winter Olympics to a host city which is a small mountain resort.