Challenges remain amid anticipation for 2018 Winter Games

One year before the first Winter Olympics in South Korea, the venues are almost ready. However, there are still some problems. Organizers are hoping the Games, opening on Feb 9, will attract excitement not only in Korea but throughout AsiaThe hooks are still missing in the changing rooms cabins and the roads outside arenas are being paved, but the manhole covers are already decorated with Olympic rings.First impressions for German athletes testing the venues for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, which open on February 9, 2018, have been quite positive. Fabian Riessle, Nordic combined team world champion, for one likes the short distances between the ski-jumping hill and the cross-country course at the Alpensia ski centre.The technically elaborate sliding track — the first with LED lighting, according to the organisers — is nearby, with a magnificent view of the Rainbow Hill, where the Olympic slalom races are to take place. “It all fits. It could be really cool next year,” Riessle said.Short-track racer Bianca Walter has had her appetite for the Games whetted by dancing mascots and the countdown clock in the 12,000-capacity Gangneung Ice Arena. “I think the organisers are fully on the agenda,” she said during her stay at the coastal centre barely 40 minutes away, where all ice sport competitions will take place. “Of course, there is still something missing, but this is quite normal a year before the opening,” she added.At the Alpensia centre in Gangwon province, the ski jumps with the distinctive Alpensia Tower as well as grandstands for biathlon and cross-country skiing and the Olympic stadium, form an impressive ensemble for the opening and closing ceremonies.Construction work at the 12 competition venues, including six new buildings, is 99 per cent finished, says the head of the organization committee (POCOG), Lee Hee Beom. The hosts’ concept is for the most compact Olympics. Most of the competition venues are to be reached in 30 minutes from Alpensia, where the press and broadcasting centre us still under construction, the organizers promise. Only the journey to the remote Jongseon alpine centre for the downhill races takes much longer.The costs for the new buildings are about 650mn dollars, with the total budget at about 12bn dollars. Although this is only one-fifth of the amount spent for the 2014 Games in Sochi, the Games have been a major challenge for the country. Infrastructure spending has included a high-speed train line, linking the winter sport centre to the capital Seoul in around an hour, which is still being developed.Organizing committee chief Lee is confident the venues will be re-used once the Games are over. “Ten out of 12 sports centres have already found new owners,” he said. There will, he claims, be no “white elephants”. The facilities have been praised, which “is very important to us,” he adds.Ambitions are correspondingly high. Pyeongchang wants to attract as many foreign visitors as possible, particularly from Asian countries, despite tensions in the region, including the conflict with North Korea.The Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 raised the country’s international profile, and it is hoped the 2018 Games will help Pyeongchang become a winter sports mecca. “The target is to create a base for wintersport,” Lee said.It has often been a rocky road from winning the hosting rights in July 2011. Just two years ago, the organizers were plagued by major financial problems. Due to a dispute over the new construction of the previously unplanned Olympic stadium, the province of Gangwon threatened to return its right to take part. The state stepped in and took over a larger share of the costs.A corruption scandal surrounding a close confidante of President Park Geun Hye, who is currently subject to impeachment proceedings, has been a cloud over the preparations.Lee admits that Pyeongchang was also the target of corruption involving certain construction projects. But the organising committee has thoroughly reviewed contracts. “You can be sure that there are no dubious accounts,” he said.The scandal though has influenced preparations. Lee indicated, as some companies were afraid of making sponsorship commitments. But by the end of 2016, the target of collecting 940bn won (about 830mn dollars) from sponsors was met by almost 90 per cent.A fundamental problem has been to spark enthusiasm for winter sport in South Korea. For the official “One Year Before Opening” celebrations, the organisers planned 60 events to arouse interest. Then the sale of the tickets will begin, of which 30 per cent are to go abroad. “We have to do more.” Lee said.