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Above A view of the venues in Gangneung Olympic Park GANGNEUNG COASTAL CLUSTER Positioned approximately 20km north-east of PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, the Gangneung Coastal Cluster will serve as the home of ice sports at the Olympic Winter Games, with most venues located within Gangneung Olympic Park GANGNEUNG OLYMPIC VILLAGE Boasting nine buildings, more than 900 rooms and 2,700 beds, Gangneung Olympic Village represents an important Games legacy, with all the units already sold for residential use after PyeongChang 2018. During the Games it will be home to approximately 1,000 athletes, and is a stone’s throw away from the ice venues as well as Gangneung Media Village, which itself will accommodate 6,000 print and broadcast journalists. KWANDONG HOCKEY CENTRE Kwandong Hockey Centre is the second of the ice hockey arenas and seats 6,000 spectators. Lying to the south of Gangneung Olympic Park, it will host matches in the men’s and women’s tournaments, and will continue to be used by Kwandong University students and the general public after the Games. GANGNEUNG HOCKEY CENTRE The standout feature of the 10,000-seater Gangneung Hockey Centre is its bold octagonal design. Specifi cally built for the Games, it staged the memorable One-Year-to-Go Countdown Ceremony in February 2017 and will be the venue for each medal match in the ice hockey competitions. GANGNEUNG ICE ARENA The fi rst of the new venues to be completed in the Gangneung Coastal Cluster, the 12,000-seat Gangneung Ice Arena, which took two-and-a-half years to build, was declared open in December 2016. As well as its stylish facade, the arena’s state-of-the-art facilities are perfectly suited for the fi gure skating and short track speed skating events, and a special atmosphere can be expected given the success of Korean athletes in those disciplines. After the Games, the venue will benefi t local residents as a multi-use, sport-for-all facility. GANGNEUNG CURLING CENTRE Of the four venues situated in Gangneung Olympic Park, the 3,500-seater curling centre is the only one whose existence predates the awarding of the Olympic Winter Games to PyeongChang. For nearly 20 years it has hosted major sporting competitions, including world championship events in curling, fi gure skating and short track speed skating. GANGNEUNG OVAL Gangneung Oval will play host to the speed skating events, where up to 8,000 spectators will be able to watch the athletes glide around the 400m double track. The brand-new venue hosted the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in early 2017, and drew praise for the quality of the ice, which led to some lightning-fast times – so expect records to be broken at PyeongChang 2018. 46 OLYMPIC REVIEW