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Gangneung Ice Arena in mid-December, drew 29,000 fans, who were thrilled to see Korean athletes dominate the competition with four golds, one silver and two bronze medals.The challenge now for POCOG is to drum up interest in the other Olympic sports. At the centre of this effort has been the PyeongChang 2018 Education Programme, which has developed 15 short videos explaining the history, fi eld of play, scoring system, and equipment of each Olympic discipline. The Education Team have also created lesson plans and material for teachers, available on an offi cial web portal.“PyeongChang Day” events at various schools across the country have allowed students to spend two to three hours playing sports, while students in rural areas have received free snowboard lessons. Meanwhile, Korean youngsters have had the opportunity to get active in “Sports Experience” booths at fairs run by the Ministry of Education, and learn about careers in the sports industry during seminars. Meet-and-greet sessions have also been arranged with athletes at test events.“Overall, in 2016 our Education Team directly engaged over 400,000 students and teachers throughout the Republic of Korea through these activities,” says Sung, adding that the focus this year is on helping teachers implement winter sports lessons in class.Adults have also been eager to learn by volunteering for the Games. There were 91,656 applications from 145 countries, including 86 per cent from locals – more than four times the amount needed. “This shows that our people are very interested in being part of the Games and would like to support us in this exciting journey towards PyeongChang 2018,” adds Sung.Around 2,900 athletes are expected to compete in PyeongChang in seven sports comprising 15 disciplines and 102 events.Many are established Olympians like Lee Sang-hwa, the speed skater who is putting off knee surgery until after the Games so she can try to equal the USA’s Bonnie Blair by winning three straight 500m gold medals. Elsewhere, Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu will attempt to IREEN WÜST (NED)SPEED SKATING“The ice staff did a good job [at the test event] and I could skate really fast. Gangneung is a nice city and I look forward to coming back next year.”LEE JUNG-SU(KOR)SHORT TRACK“The short track test event raised people’s enthusiasm, and has given me great confi dence to perform at my best for the Games.”LIZZY YARNOLD (GBR)SKELETON“As soon as Sochi fi nished, I was thinking about becoming the fi rst British winter Olympian to retain their title. I’m very excited.”WHAT THEY SAYAthletes give their thoughts on PyeongChang 2018OLYMPIC REVIEW 39ONE YEAR TO GO