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Now, 30 years later, PyeongChang 2018 will serve to remind the world just how much the Republic of Korea has been able to capitalise on the legacy of Seoul 1988. Lee Hee-beom, President of the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee (POCOG), believes PyeongChang is ready to host “the best” Olympic Winter Games yet. “The time has nearly come for PyeongChang to welcome the world and share our ‘New Horizons’,” Lee says. “The excitement is building and the fi nal touches are being put to our preparations. We want the Olympic Winter Games to be the best yet and we hope everyone who comes to PyeongChang – whether an athlete, offi cial, spectator or volunteer – gets to enjoy some Korean hospitality and a Games that heralds the beginning of an Olympic era, and a winter sports era for Asia.” Even before becoming an Olympic host city, PyeongChang has long been a popular tourist destination within the Republic of Korea. It offers outdoor activities year-round but winter is by far the best time to visit. Visitors have a number of ski resorts from which Top and right The test event programme has showcased PyeongChang’s state-of-the- art venues and facilities Above The Organising Committee hopes the Olympic Winter Games will boost tourism across the region to choose, but there are also other attractions for non-skiers. The Alpensia resort, built during PyeongChang’s earlier candidatures for the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games, is a major tourism complex and home to a year-round water park. PyeongChang is also home to Samyang Ranch, Asia’s largest green pasture, which has been the setting of several Korean fi lms and TV shows, while Daegwallyeong sheep farm is another popular destination, offering a picturesque backdrop painted with different colours during the year. With a population of less than 50,000, PyeongChang rates as one of the smallest winter Olympic host cities. What it lacks in size, though, it will more than compensate for with state-of-the- art facilities that have impressed athletes and Olympic offi cials at the test events that were staged in each winter sport. The very fi rst competition, the International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Ski World Cup event in February 2016, drew rave reviews. FIS President Gian-Franco Kasper called Jeongseon Alpine Centre “a beauty” and praised POCOG for “an excellent start” to the test event programme. In the year that followed, other athletes got a glimpse of how their Olympic events would play out, and came away similarly satisfi ed with their experience. “The course and the slope are really good – and the audiences are awesome,” said Benjamin Karl, the Austrian snowboarder with two Olympic medals, of Phoenix Snow Park after the FIS Snowboard World Cup event in February 2017. In the same month, Nathan Chen, who won the men’s singles title at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, said of Gangneung Ice Arena: “The Olympic venue itself is already beautiful. I love the arena.” These facilities form part of a compact, athlete-friendly venue plan, where all competition arenas are located within 30 minutes of one of the two Olympic Villages. Six of the 12 sports venues have been constructed for the Games, while six existing facilities have been refurbished. Further enhancing the experiences of athletes and spectators will be the new high-speed KTX train line connecting the east and west of the country. The railways will allow visitors to travel from Incheon International Airport, the Republic of Korea’s main gateway, to Gangneung in less than two hours. The KTX line, along with other major infrastructure, will help turn PyeongChang and Gangneung into ‘THE TIME HAS COME FOR PYEONGCHANG. WE WANT THE OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES TO BE THE BEST YET’ LEE HEE-BEOM, POCOG PRESIDENT PYEONGCHANG 2018 PREVIEW 32 OLYMPIC REVIEW