DURBAN, South Africa — Two days before the vote, the president of South Korea said Monday it was his “duty” to help Pyeongchang secure the 2018 Winter Olympics and create a new “mecca”‘ for winter sports in Asia.
President Lee Myung-bak is in Durban to promote Pyeongchang’s third consecutive bid for the Games in a three-way competition with Munich and Annecy, France.
Pyeongchang, competing after narrow defeats for the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, is considered the one to beat as it seeks to become the first Asian city outside of Japan to host the Winter Games. Sapporo hosted the Games in 1972; Nagano in 1998.
“We want as many people in Korea and Asia to enjoy winter sports,” Lee said. “I consider this my duty and my mission to deliver the Games for Asia.”
The South Koreans have repeatedly stressed that their bid could open the Winter Olympics to a new market of 600 million young people in Asia. Lee said Europe and North America already have developed winter sports markets, and that Asia should now have its turn.
“If we do win, it’s not just about Korea or Pyeongchang,” the president said. “It is our aspiration to become a mecca for winter sports.”
Slopestyle gets OK.
The International Olympic Committee approved the inclusion of men’s and women’s slopestyle events in snowboarding and freestyle skiing for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
In slopestyle, snowboarders and skiers do tricks while going down the mountain and maneuver through “features” — rails, big jumps and bumps.
American snowboard star Shaun White, who won halfpipe gold medals at the 2010 and 2006 Games, has said he would like to compete in slopestyle in Sochi.
