A delegation from the International Olympic Committee will visit PyeongChang on Tuesday for a three-day inspection of the city’s preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics, according to the PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee.
The Gangwon Province city won the right to host Korea’s first-ever Winter Games in July 2011 at the IOC session in Durban.
Gunilla Lindberg of Sweden, who visited the city last year as the head of 2018 Evaluation Commission, will lead the IOC Coordination Commission.
Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli, IOC member Rene Fasel and Olympic freestyle ski champion Edgar Grospiron are among the 11 members of the delegation visiting PyeongChang.
It is the first visit by IOC officials since the establishment of the PyeongChang 2018 OOC at the end of last year.
The delegation is scheduled to meet with local authorities and delegates of the local organizing committee, including Kim Jin-sun, president of the PyeongChang committee, and Choi Moon-soon, governor of Gangwon Province.
Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choe Kwang-sik and Korean Olympic Committee president Park Yong-sung will also attend the meeting, the committee said.
In addition to meeting with officials, the IOC delegates will check on the Olympic venues, including the Alpensia Resort where the biathlon, ski jump, cross country and sled events will take place.
The delegates will also visit Gangneung, a 30-minute drive from PyeongChang, to check the venues for speed skating, short-track speed skating, ice hockey, curling and figure skating.
The IOC officials are scheduled to hold a news conference on Thursday before wrapping up their trip.
By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldm.com)
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
