By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

June 1 - Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-Na (pictured), South Korea's biggest star, has joined a new Athletes Committee formed by Pyeongchang's 2018.



Kim is one of 24 South Korean athletes, including three other gold medallists from Vancouver, speed skaters Tae-Bum Mo, Seung-Hoon Lee and Sang-Hwa Lee, who will use their experience and knowledge of major events to advice Pyeongchang's Bid Committee about venues and other plans for its bid to host the 2018 Olympics and Paralympics.

They hope it will give them the edge over rivals Annecy and Munich, who are also bidding.

Additional members of the Athletes Committee include Olympic champions from previous Winter Games, including Lee-Kyung Chun, the winner of four gold medals in short track speed skating at the Games in Lillehammer in 1994 and Nagano in 1998.

Kim said: "I am delighted to be part of the Pyeongchang 2018 Athletes Committee.

"Athletes have been involved in developing PyeongChang’s 2018 Games Plan to ensure convenience, comfort and a great setting for outstanding athletic performances.

"As an Ambassador for the bid and member of this Committee, I look forward to communicating my enthusiasm for the 2018 Games in Korea with fellow athletes around the world and sharing with them our vision for outstanding Winter Games."
 
Yang-Ho Cho, the co-chairman of Pyeongchang 2018, said: "We are very pleased to establish the Athletes Committee as we want to highlight the important ongoing role that winter sports athletes play in the development of our Games Plan.

"Our bid is focused on meeting the needs of the athletes and with their advice and support we have created the most compact Games Plan in Olympic Winter Games history."
 
Governor Jin-Sun Kim, the other co-chairman of Pyeongchang 2018, said: "South Korea is privileged to have many world-class winter sports athletes and we are proud of our Olympians’ recent achievements at the Vancouver Winter Games.

"With these athletes working with us and supporting the bid, we can create a wonderful Olympic Winter Games experience in 2018 that will help to grow winter sports in Korea, in Asia and all over the world, and excite a new generation of winter sports athletes."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected] 


Related stories
May 2010:
 Government boost for Pyeongchang Olympic bid
April 2010: Pyeongchang 2018 sets-up new group to help deliver sustainable Games
April 2010: Lee travels to Europe to drum up support for Pyeongchang 2018
March 2010: Pyeongchang announces multi-million dollar plan to develop ski jumping facilities
March 2010: Olympic gold medallists celebrate Pyeongchang Applicant File submission