Following what was its second visit to the Taebaek mountains region, the Commission – led by Swedish IOC Executive Board member Gunilla Lindberg – praised the progress made by the local organisers.

"We've once again seen good progress from Pyeongchang 2018 and an excellent team effort from the Organising Committee, all levels of Government, and the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC)," Lindberg said.

"Delivering the Olympic Games can be achieved successfully only by working as a single unit and our Korean colleagues have shown that unity once again on this visit.

"We have been impressed by their ability to collaborate closely - from the provision of skilled administrators at POCOG (Pyeongchang Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) to the finalisation of the venue master plan - to ensure that these Games will be a success.

"The Pyeongchang 2018 team is giving its all for the Olympians of 2018."

In particular, the Commission praised the launch of the Games emblem – unveiled last month in Seoul and Pyeongchang simultaneously in front of a 2,000-strong live audience, the finalisation of the venue master plan and the progress in defining venue legacies.


"All the sports venues for the 2018 Games have now been defined and work is progressing rapidly on the design phase to ensure that all will be ready in time for the test events," read an IOC statement.

"With four-and-a-half years remaining until the Olympic Flame arrives in the country, POCOG is well-placed to ensure that the athletes have the best possible fields of play upon which to compete."

The Commission added that the clustering of sports venues in Gangneung has the potential to boost the spectator experience in 2018.

The body also encouraged the creation of a multi-stakeholder group to oversee the Games legacy to ensure "all key players would be involved in defining the legacy of 2018 from the outset".

Pyeongchang 2018 also briefed the IOC officials on preparations in areas such as sport, transport, energy, technology, communications, sustainability and the Paralympic Games, for which former athlete and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) representative Ann Cody has been appointed to oversee.

The culture and education programmes, and marketing and construction tenders also about to get under way were said to be on their way "to achieving even more success".

Some areas were, however, flagged up as requiring additional work, such as the finalising of the accommodation inventory, the initiation of a marketing programme and ensuring that a competitive home team will compete in all sports at the Games.

The IOC also encouraged Pyeongchang 2018 to recruiting specialists to work on maximising the transfer of knowledge from Sochi 2014.


"POCOG has laid a firm foundation for Games preparation efforts, in close cooperation with the national Government, Gangwon Province, host and venue cities, the National Assembly and the KOC," Pyeongchang 2018 President Kim Jun-sun said.

"These efforts are evident in our Games foundation plan and the master schedule, as well as the development of detailed venue construction plans.

"We've received a great amount of support and help from chair Lindberg and Gilbert Felli, along with the IOC coordination commission and experts from the international federations.

"I'd like to stress the fact that we're fortunate to be working with well experienced and extremely professional members of the Commission.

"With only three-and-a-half years to go until the test events, we will spare no time to make further progress in putting together a successful Games in Pyeongchang."

Pyeongchang was named as the 2018 Winter Games host city at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa on July 6, 2011. 

The Olympics are due take place on February 9 until 25, while the Paralympics are scheduled for March 9 until 18, 2018.

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