Get ready for PyeongChang
- by Khaya South Africa
- Jul 12, 2017
- 1 min read
From February 9 to 25, 2018, the city of PyeongChang will welcome nearly 3,000 athletes from nearly 100 nations for the first Winter Olympics to be held on South Korean soil. It will kick off a series of high-profile sporting events in Asia over the next four years, with Tokyo hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics and Beijing the host city for the Winter Olympics in 2022.
Source Getty Images
To avoid any potential confusion with North Korea's capital Pyongyang, the PyeongChang resort -- which is 50 miles south of the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries -- has changed its name for the Games, capitalizing the C for the first time.
A record 102 gold medals will be up for grabs in 15 disciplines at PyeongChang 2018, while four events will be making their Winter Olympic debuts, with the introduction of Big Air snowboarding -- athletes performing tricks after launching from large jumps -- giving the Games a youthful vibe.
A $78 million, 50,000-capacity temporary Olympic Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, is set to be completed in September. It's one of six new venues being built.
In total, 13 venues, split between PyeongChang and neighboring city Gangneung, will be used during the 17 days of the Games.
Sources http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/08/sport, https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/
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