By Yoon Chul
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission left Korea, Sunday, after ending its inspection of PyeongChang’s third bid for the Winter Games.
The delegation, which will inspect another strong candidate, Munich, from Feb. 28, lauded the progress made by PyeongChang.
Most of the evaluators led by commission Chairwoman Gunilla Lindberg were impressed with the newly completed world class venues and the strong support shown by the local and national governments.
“We have seen great progress in the bid from the two previous bids,” Lindberg said at a press conference. “We have also seen progress in Korean winter sports during the last four years (since PyeongChang’s last bid).”
Compared to the last two lost bids seven venues have been constructed including ski jumping slopes, and biathlon and cross country courses.
With the delegates being able to confirm that PyeongChang could keep its promise to build world class venues they may also be assured that other Olympic facilities and plans will be completed before the Winter Games starts in 2018.
The IOC members saw that the national government was firmly behind the bid after President Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik both visited PyeongChang.
“We could see the strong support from government and realized how Korea government is active as the visits of President, Prime Minister. We specially met many athletes, we could feel the passion of Korea Olympic Committee (KOC) members,” Lindberg said.
The commission members also confirmed that support of over 90 percent of the local population was not an error as they were given a passionate welcome by residents.
The latter could make all the difference in the competition with Munich’s bid — so far a handful of farmers in Garmisch-Partenkirchen have refused to allow their land to be used for the Games.
The PyeongChang bid committee proposed that the IOC should look to the emerging market of Asia for winter sports promotion.
The potential of Asia and Korea was highlighted with PyeongChang’s slogan “New Horizons.”
The market of winter sports in Europe is already saturated but Asia could turn into a goldmine.
The Asian middle class spent $1.7 trillion every year from 1990 to 2008 — and if consumption continues it will reach $32 trillion, accounting for 43 percent of world’s total in 2030.
While inspecting the ski jumping venue, also the stage for the opening and closing ceremonies, the IOC members checked accessibility for the athletes.
The delegates took notice of the short distance between facilities and concluded that PyeongChang will be a compact Olympics.
To ensure a successful Winter Games, the city, which is relatively less known than its rivals, needs to prepare the infrastructure for athletes and fans.
Gangwon Province has already signed memoranda of understanding with 80 brands to secure this, and a bullet train will deliver participants to Seoul in just 50 minutes.
In a final press conference Saturday, many foreign reporters asked whether the tension between the two Koreas would affect PyeongChang’s bid, but Lindberg closed that issue.
“Situations with North Korea have been ongoing for the past 60 years,” Lindberg said. “During that time, (South) Korea has hosted the Olympic Summer Games, the World University Games, the Asian Games and other events including the 2002 FIFA World Cup.”
Cho Yang-ho, head of PyeongChang’s bidding committee, was satisfied with their work.
“We’re very pleased that we’ve been able to show the IOC that we’ve lived up to our commitment and that we have strong support from the people and the government for our bid,” Cho said.
The IOC’s evaluation report will be made public in May. A positive evaluation could help a candidate city win but the reports aren’t always linked to a victory.
The winning bid among Annecy, PyeongChang and Munich will be decided on July 6 in Durban, South Africa.
yc@koreatimes.co.kr