July 6 - Pyeongchang today hosted a special "1 Year to Go" ceremony to celebrate the one year mark to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision on the Host City for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.



The ceremony, held at the Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul, was attended by over 250 people including Yang-Ho Cho, the chairman and chief executive of the Pyeongchang 2018 Bid Committee, In-Chon Yu, South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Yong-Sung Park, President of the Korean Olympic Committee and senior representatives from Gangwon Province.

They unveiled the new bid campaign slogan: "New Horizons".

Launched to mark Pyeongchang’s official status as an Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Candidate City, the new slogan articulates the city’s vision to help grow interest in winter sports internationally and connect the Olympic Movement with millions of young people across the Asian region, Pyeongchang officials claimed.

Cho said: "With just one year to go until the IOC decision in Durban, today is an important step in our journey to reiterate Pyeongchang’s commitment and passion for hosting the Games and contributing to the growth of winter sport worldwide.

"We know there is still a lot of hard work to be done, but as we embark on this second phase of the campaign, we will continue to highlight our dedication to inspiring young people in Korea, Asia and across the world to participate in winter sports and emulate our sporting Bid Ambassadors by becoming the next generation of Winter Games champions."



Yu said: "The Government of South Korea is very proud to support Pyeongchang’s bid and has made this campaign a national priority.

"There is total commitment from all levels of government to support the bid and we have pledged to honour all necessary IOC guarantees."

Today’s ceremony also confirmed seven new athlete ambassadors who will join Olympic gold medallist figure skater Yu-Na Kim in the campaign to bring the Games to Pyeongchang in 2018.

Attendees included Youngjo Hwang, the 1992 Olympic marathon champion, as well as Tae-Bum Mo and Sang-Hwa Lee - both speed skating gold medallists at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.


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