2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Countdown Begins After Rio 2016 Games: Top 3 Things You Need to Know; Event Date, Sports Roster and What to Expect
After the Rio 2016 Olympics ended its colorful run on Sunday, sports fans across the globe are now looking forward to the 2018 Winter Olympics. The upcoming competitions will not kick off anytime soon but the anticipation is already mounting.
Just like the Rio Games, Winter Olympics will offer exciting and incredible athletic feats. However, the next international sporting will totally be different from the recently concluded Summer Olympics in so many ways. Here are the top three things you need to know about the upcoming Winter Olympics.
1. The Winter Olympics will officially kick off 536 days from now at South Korea.
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The forthcoming Winter Olympics, otherwise known as PyeongChang 2018, will hold its opening ceremony on Feb. 9, 2018 at the city of Pyeongchang (pronounced PYUHNG'-chahng) in South Korea. It is 537 days from the Rio 2016 Olympics' closing ceremony on Sunday. It will culminate on Feb. 25, 2018.
According to Olympic.org, the members of the International Olympic Committee voted Pyeongchang in 2011 as the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The South Korean city emerged as the top choice over Munich of Germany and Annecy of France. It was the city's third consecutive bid to host the event, after losing to Vancouver, Canada in 2010 and Sochi, Russia in 2014.
Pyeongchang will be the third Asian city ever to host the Winter Olympics, following Japan's Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.
2. The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics will bring totally different roster of sports.
The upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics will offer sports competitions that are entirely different from the Rio 2016 Games. These include ice, snow and slide sports such as hockey matches, figure skating, ski jumping, Alpine skiing, and bobsleigh.
Moreover, per 12 News, PyeongChang 2018 will introduce new and exciting sports. Athletes will compete for curling mixed doubles, snowboarding big air, Alpine skiing team and speed skating mass start for the first time.
3. South Korea will spend $13 billion for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.
NBC News reported that South Korea allocated $13 billion for the upcoming international sporting event. The fund is almost four times less that the last Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, which is the most expensive so far. Ninety percent of the budget will go to the improvement of infrastructure in the city.
Kim So-Hee, PyeongChang 2018 organizer and former Olympic skating gold medalist, shared that they are nervous but they are ready to host the event. She disclosed that one of the new facilities is ready to hold test events in November.
