POSTED: July 8th 2011
NewsUpdate
Kim finally wins his Olympic Dream with PyeongChang 2018 Games
LAURA WALDEN in Durban / Sports Features Communications
DURBAN, Jul 08: The victory of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics overwhelmed Special Ambassador Jin-Sun Kim after years of hard work at the heart of the three bids. Kim’s voice broke during the official presentation as he made his passionate plea to the IOC membership to give PyeongChang the green light this time to stage the winter Olympic Games.
Born and raised in PyeongChang, Kim served as mayor of the cities of Gangneung and Bucheon as well as vice-governor for administrative affairs. He was first elected governor of Gangwon Province in 1998 and then re-elected in 2002 and 2006 with this last and final term ending in 2010.
“It has been 17 years since PyeongChang first had the dream about the Olympics and we decided to realize the dream 12 years ago. And we failed two times in the bidding process and now we are here for the third time.
“We have walked a thorny path to get here to this day. As I was explaining all this to the IOC members I did not even know that I had tears in my eyes, but I was filled with emotions. Actually that is what I have been feeling and not just me, but all of us.”
“We made several attempts to host the Olympic Games and since then a lot of effort has been made. We experienced two failures and the third time around we emerged as the victor.
“I would like to thank Jacques Rogge and all the journalists here today.
“We cheered, we shouted out loud and I cried and that is what I feel in side. Now the bid is over and as a lay person I would like to express my support to Olympic Movement.”
Current Governor Moon-Soon Choi found himself thrust into the final frenetic stages of the PyeongChang bid as he was elected to the post in April 2011. His first experience was the IOC technical briefing in Lausanne in May and then the final presentation in Durban on July 6th.
Choi noted on the win, “In the bidding process I guess I am the luckiest person because Special Ambassador Kim has put in an awful lot of time and effort into this Movement. I was able to become this lucky person only after being elected as a Governor only two months ago.
“So I would like to thank President Jacques Rogge for giving me the opportunity for the luck.
Bid ceo, Yang Ho Cho, added, “We will begin our preparations starting now and I can assure you we will provide the best experience as promised to the IOC. We will make our best preparations for the venues.
“We have seven venues completed out of the 13 required and the remaining six will be completes as promised. And as for infrastructure and the operation of the whole process we will do our best. And we will continue our investment in underdeveloped disciplines.”
Within the next five months the host city is required to put together the organizing committee to get the concrete works started to run the PyeongChang 2018 winter Olympics.
Keywords · PyeongChang 2018 · Jin-Sun Kim · Moon-Soon Choi
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Laura Walden ()
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