The countdown begins: only one year to go until the 23rd Winter Olympic Games. On 9 February 2018, the curtains will officially raise on the Games that will be held in PyeongChang in South Korea. The closing ceremony is due to be held on 25 February, after the traditional 17 days of thrilling competition. PyeongChang was named as the host city during the 123th IOC Session held on 7 July 2011, at the first vote (with 63 preferences), beating competition that included Munich (Germany) and Annecy (France).
The Games are returning to South Korea for the first time, 30 years after the Summer Olympics were held in Seoul in 1988. The long-awaited winter event will be spread across 3 hubs: PyeongChang will host the opening and closing ceremonies and most of the snow events, Jeongseon will see the Alpine speed skiing events unfold, and Gangneung will serve as the theatre for the ice sports. The programme will be expanded to include 8 new events, bringing the total number of gold medals up for grabs to 102, a historic milestone as the number will surpass 100 for the first time ever.
Of all the new events, the recently introduced Big Air Snowboarding is highly anticipated. The event tests for the various disciplines will take place over the next few weeks, coinciding with the World Cup and World Championship events, such as the Speed Skating that kicks off today, a year before the start of the Games, on the Olympic ring on which the new Olympic champions will be named in 365 days’ time. Today, the tickets for the event will officially go on sale and the design of the Olympic torch will be unveiled. The pictograms are based on the Korean alphabet, whilst the mascots Soohorang, a white tiger, and Bandabi, a black bear, began their work of promoting the 23rd Winter Olympic Games in Brazil, supporting the example of the team of “ambassadors”, led by figure skating star Yuna Kim and Alpine skiing champion Lindsey Vonn.
The year-long countdown was also celebrated at the Hockey Centre in Gangneung with the presentation of the Olympic torch, unveiled by the ambassador Yuna Kim, famous cross-country skier and Lillehammer 2016 medallist Magnus Kim, and five students. The torch is characterised by its size: 700mm, which reflects the altitude of PyeongChang, sitting 700 metres above sea level. The colours white and gold represent the Winter Olympics - a global festival distinguished by the white of the snow and ice.
The five-pronged shape represents the spirit of sport, which connects nations, religions, ethnicities, genders and cultures from five continents around the world, uniting them with passion. The torch was designed by Korean designer Young Se KIM.
