Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Roh Tae-kang (fifth from right), Governor Choi Moon-soon of Gangwon-do Province and other dignitaries attend a tape-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of construction of the sporting venues for next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Nov. 4. (PyeongChang Olympic Organizing Committee)
By Sohn JiAe
Construction of the stadiums for next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is now 99.7 percent complete.
A ceremony to declare the 99.7 percent mark took place at the venue for the Opening and Closing ceremonies in Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Nov. 4. Attendees included Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Roh Tae-kang and Governor Choi Moon-soon of Gangwon-do Province.
“A total of 13 sporting venues are currently 99.7 percent completed. The Alpensia Sliding Center, among others, has been built with the use of state-of-the-art technologies, like mechanization and automation. The sliding track, which usually takes at least 30 months to construct, has been built in just 12 months,” announced the PyeongChang Organizing Committee.
The Gangneung Oval, which will host the speed-skating, has become the nation’s largest-ever structure in scale, with a total floor area of 37,864 square meters. The Gangneung Ice Arena for figure skating and short-track speed skating is equipped with an automated ice-making system that makes the ice as even as possible. The stadium also runs a temperature control system that maintains the temperature in the stands at 15 Celsius degrees and at 40 percent humidity.
The Gangneung Hockey Center is finished, ready to host sporting events, in Ponam-dong, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do Province. (Kim Sunjoo)
Finishing touches are underway to construct the PyeongChang Olympic Plaza, where the Opening and Closing ceremonies for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will take place, in Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Oct. 30. (Kim Sunjoo)
jiae5853@korea.kr
