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South Korea’s Olympic figure skating champion Yuna Kim was yesterday named as an official ambassador for the 2018 Winter Olympics which are being held in Pyeongchang. |
“As a Games ambassador for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, we expect her to take the lead in promoting the Games to the world,” Yang-Ho Cho, president of the local organizing committee, said of the 24-year-old skater.
Kim won gold at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and collected silver at the Sochi Olympics earlier this year. She was part of the bidding team which won the 2018 Games for Pyeongchang.
“The memories that I made with the Bid Committee are still fresh in my mind,” Kim said. “With these memories in stow I am excited to bring the same passion and commitment with me to this new role with the Organizing Committee.”
Kim is the sixth Games ambassador, joining a number of prominent names from South Korean business, sport and culture.
Beijing ‘confident’ on 2022 Winter Games bid
Beijing is confident it can host the 2022 Winter Olympics, an official said Tuesday, after several withdrawals left the bid—initially seen as a dry run for a future event - the unlikely favourite.
The Chinese capital’s candidacy has been viewed as highly ambitious, given concerns over pollution and transportation, and the lack of a widespread winter sports tradition or top-class facilities.
But the Norwegian capital Oslo dropped out of the process last month, following earlier withdrawals by Stockholm, Krakow in Poland and Lviv in Ukraine, leaving the host of the spectacular 2008 Summer Games facing off only against the Kazakhstan city of Almaty.
“Some cities have quit the Winter Olympics bidding process, but we pay more attention to our own work,” said Wang Hui, the bid’s chief spokeswoman.
“We respect the choices from the countries who have dropped out, but we have confidence that Beijing could be the host for the 2022 Winter Olympics,” added Wang, a senior city propaganda official who also worked on the 2008 Games.
Beijing would host the third consecutive Olympics in the Far East if it wins the 2022 bid, with the 2018 Winter Games taking place in South Korea’s Pyeongchang, followed by the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
Ice sports would be staged in Beijing while snow events would be held in Zhangjiakou in the neighbouring province of Hebei, around 200 kilometres (125 miles) away.
Pollution, which regularly affects northern China, is among the top worries. In recent weeks Beijing’s notorious smog has forced hundreds of athletes to don masks for the city’s marathon and also cut short a stage of the Tour of Beijing cycling race.
