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OLYMPIC REVIEW 17The excitement around the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 stepped up several notches after the first official HelloPyeongChang Olympic test event was completed to widespread acclaim.On 6-7 February, the brand new Jeongseon Alpine Centre hosted two races as part of the 2016 International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup event, with Norway’s Olympic super G champion Kjetil Jansrud winning the first-ever downhill ski race to be held in the Republic of Korea.Speaking after the first day of competition, the President of the local Organising Committee (POCOG), Yang Ho Cho, said: “Today, we have put PyeongChang on the world map for World Cup Alpine skiing. And this is just the beginning. With the IOC and the FIS by my side, I am pleased to say that the journey to the 2018 Games has officially started.”The test event earned high praise from skiers for both the course – designed by Switzerland’s former Olympic downhill champion Bernhard Russi – and for its smooth running. IOC Coordination Commission Chair Gunilla Lindberg commented, “This competition is a major step forward in the preparations for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. We have just witnessed an exciting race on a fabulous downhill course and this gives us confidence for the rest of the test events and for the delivery of the Games. What is particularly pleasing is the positive reaction of the athletes that I have spoken to about the slope and congratulations to all of them for their performances.”Jansrud, who also served as an Ambassador for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lillehammer 2016, commented to his fans on social media: “I guess you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And PyeongChang just aced it. This will be a fantastic venue.” Above South Korean skier Hyeon-tae Kim with IOC Coordination Commission Chair Gunilla Lindberg at the Jeongseon Alpine CentrePYEONGCHANG 2018 STAGES FIRST TEST EVENTBASEBALL STAR BECOMES 2018 AMBASSADOROn 26 November, the Organising Committee for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 (POCOG) appointed Major League Baseball pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin as an Honorary Ambassador. He received the accolade from the POCOG President, Yang Ho Cho, and will take part in various promotional activities for PyeongChang 2018, including events in the USA. Known as the “Monster Pitcher”, Ryu Hyun-jin was part of the Republic of Korea’s gold medal-winning baseball team at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.In December, POCOG signed two domestic sponsorship agreements, with Daedong Industrial and Ssangyong Information & Communications Corporation. As the Official Supplier of Tractors (a new category for the Olympic Winter Games), Daedong will supply vehicles that will be used for equipment transport, snow removal and other operations. As Official Sponsor of Website Services for the Games, Ssangyong will develop and operate about 40 Games systems, and will oversee the official POCOG websites. NEWS IN BRIEFPresident Bach announces composition of new commissionsOn 24 February, IOC President Thomas Bach announced the composition of the Coordination Commission for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the Evaluation Commission for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, and the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Tri-partite Working Group. IOC members Alexander Zhukov, Frank Fredericks and Uur Erdener were named chairs of the Coordination Commission Beijing 2022, Evaluation Commission 2024 and YOG Tripartite Working Group, respectively.Rio 2016 Technology Operations Centre opensDuring the IOC’s 12th Project Review of the Olympic Games Rio 2016 in November, Worldwide TOP Partner Atos and the Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games officially opened the Technology Operations Centre (TOC) for the Games. The TOC is the Control and Command Centre for technology that supervises all 144 Olympic competition and non-competition venues. This 800m² facility will monitor and control the IT systems that support the running of the Games and deliver competition results to the world’s media in real time.Below PyeongChang 2018 ambassador Ryu Hyun-jin