ID :
57433
Sat, 04/25/2009 - 13:48
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/57433
The shortlink copeid
(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on April 25) - Third time lucky?
Will the third time prove to be lucky for PyeongChang? The city in Gangwon
Province, which failed in its last two attempts to host the Winter Olympic Games,
must be hoping that will be the case.
On Thursday, the Korean Olympic Committee approved the nomination of PyeongChang
as a venue for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. The vote by the executive board
showed 30 votes for and 13 votes against the nomination.
PyeongChang lost to Vancouver, Canada, in the bid for the 2010 Winter Games and
to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The latest bid will be for the
2018 Winter Games.
Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-sun said that PyeongChang would make sure it
wins this time. If anything, the tenacity of the people of PyeongChang and
Gangwon Province should be recognized by the International Olympic Committee when
they make their decision next year.
PyeongChang is confident that the experience it accumulated in the past campaigns
and the greater international sports and media recognition earned through those
efforts will lead to success the third time around.
However, the competition to host the Winter Olympics in 2018 will be fierce.
Munich in Germany and Annecy in France are also competing to host the event. By
all accounts, more than the proverbial third time luck will be necessary to win.
Indeed, the third attempt seems a foolhardy one. With two unsuccessful campaigns
behind it, PyeongChang bid may be burdened by its past failures. Unless dramatic
improvements over the past attempts can attract the IOC voting members, there is
little chance that PyeongChang will have any advantage over other competing
cities.
In the meantime, KOC's approval of PyeongChang nomination has all but killed any
hopes for Busan's attempt to host the Summer Olympics in 2020. Right before the
KOC voting, Busan gave a presentation on its proposal to bid for the Games. At
the meeting, officials from Busan protested Pyeongchang's bid and said that it
was unfair to nominate the same city three times, robbing other cities of a
chance to make their bids.
Busan claimed that since it would be unrealistic to expect Korea to be chosen to
host both the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics, efforts should
be focused on bidding for the 2020 Games, which would have a greater impact on
the economy and national prestige.
With the government likely to support only one bid at a time, Busan is now
looking into bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
While the PyeongChang bid, now that it has been approved by the KOC, should
receive full support of the government and the people, allowing a third bid has
set a bad precedent.
(END)
Province, which failed in its last two attempts to host the Winter Olympic Games,
must be hoping that will be the case.
On Thursday, the Korean Olympic Committee approved the nomination of PyeongChang
as a venue for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. The vote by the executive board
showed 30 votes for and 13 votes against the nomination.
PyeongChang lost to Vancouver, Canada, in the bid for the 2010 Winter Games and
to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The latest bid will be for the
2018 Winter Games.
Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-sun said that PyeongChang would make sure it
wins this time. If anything, the tenacity of the people of PyeongChang and
Gangwon Province should be recognized by the International Olympic Committee when
they make their decision next year.
PyeongChang is confident that the experience it accumulated in the past campaigns
and the greater international sports and media recognition earned through those
efforts will lead to success the third time around.
However, the competition to host the Winter Olympics in 2018 will be fierce.
Munich in Germany and Annecy in France are also competing to host the event. By
all accounts, more than the proverbial third time luck will be necessary to win.
Indeed, the third attempt seems a foolhardy one. With two unsuccessful campaigns
behind it, PyeongChang bid may be burdened by its past failures. Unless dramatic
improvements over the past attempts can attract the IOC voting members, there is
little chance that PyeongChang will have any advantage over other competing
cities.
In the meantime, KOC's approval of PyeongChang nomination has all but killed any
hopes for Busan's attempt to host the Summer Olympics in 2020. Right before the
KOC voting, Busan gave a presentation on its proposal to bid for the Games. At
the meeting, officials from Busan protested Pyeongchang's bid and said that it
was unfair to nominate the same city three times, robbing other cities of a
chance to make their bids.
Busan claimed that since it would be unrealistic to expect Korea to be chosen to
host both the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics, efforts should
be focused on bidding for the 2020 Games, which would have a greater impact on
the economy and national prestige.
With the government likely to support only one bid at a time, Busan is now
looking into bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
While the PyeongChang bid, now that it has been approved by the KOC, should
receive full support of the government and the people, allowing a third bid has
set a bad precedent.
(END)
