By Nick Butler

There has been alot of attention surrounding Pyeongchang 2018 ever since the end of the last Games in Sochi ©Getty ImagesMarch 4 - A "ground-breaking" Ceremony has been held to provide information about a world-leading Sliding Centre to be built ahead of the next Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.


Held at the construction site in Pyeongchang where the Centre will be, the Ceremony was attended by members of the Organising Committee, as well as by local officials and members of the public.

Built according to the standards of the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) and the International Luge Federation (FIL), the Centre will include seven buildings and a track of exactly 2,018 metres.

In a speech made during the Ceremony, Gangwon-do Province Governor Choi Moon-soon boasted that there were only 16 such facilities in the world, and that it would be a "stand-out from the bunch".

The Sliding Centre designs as unveiled this week ©Gangwon ProvinceThe Sliding Centre designs as unveiled this week ©Gangwon Province





In construction work set to benefit the local community, a start and finish house, an access bridge and road, machinery buildings, and the installation of power and communications infrastructure will also be built.

Construction is expected to start soon and be completed by the end of 2016, with the final completion of the centre scheduled for the end of the following year.

It has been a busy time for Pyeongchang in recent weeks following the conclusion of the Sochi 2014 Games, which ended with a Handover Ceremony passing over the Olympic Flag from the Mayor of Sochi to his Pyeongchang counterpart. 

Despite it being suggested by the FIBT, there appears to be no prospect of the Sliding Centre being required as a venue for the Paralympics, with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) telling insidethegames last month that new sports will not be considered.