PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics

The decision to choose PyeongChang as Olympic host city was taken by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) July 6, 2011 at the IOC's 123rd Session in Durban, South Africa. Three candidate cities had applied for the hosting: PyeongChang, South Korea, Munich, Germany and Annecy, France, and here PyeongChang was nominated in the first voting round with 63 votes in front of Munich with 25 votes and Annecy with 7 votes.

PyeongChang is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants located in the Korean Alps 700 meters above sea level in the Gangwon Province in the northeastern part of South Korea. The Olympic competitions took place in two areas: a "Mountain Cluster" in and around PyeongChang and a "Coastal Cluster" in Gangneung, a city of about 220.000 inhabitants situated at the Sea of Japan. A well developed infrastructure ensured the connection between the two areas.

The Olympic Stadium, arena for the opening and closing ceremonies, was located in the "Mountain Cluster". The Alpensia area included venues for the nordic skiing events (cross-country skiing, ski jumping and nordic combined) and the biathlon events. The Sliding Centre had facilities for the competitions in bobsleigh, luge and skeleton. The venues for all events in snowboarding and freestyle skiing were gathered in Phoenix Snow Park, while the alpine competitions were separated with the technical events (slalom and giant slalom) in Yongpyong and the speed events (downhill and super G) in Jeongseon.

"Coastal Cluster" in Gangneung was the location for all skating competitions (rushes, short track and figure skating) as well as the tournaments in ice hockey and curling.

The program for the Winter Games in PyeongChang included a number of new events, bringing the total number of events up to 102 - the highest number of events at the Olympic Winter Games ever. The new events included some exciting competitions such as Big Air in snowboarding, speed skating with mass start, a mixed doubles tournament in curling and a team competition in alpine skiing.