Athletes who competed at the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics have shared their gratitude to Korea on social media. (Screenshot of Maja-Li Iafrate Danielsson's Instagram page)

By Lee Kyoung Mi

The Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics (Gangwon 2024) in Gangwon-do Province on the evening of Feb. 1 will wrap up its 14-day journey with the closing ceremony.

Social media is filled with messages from the participating athletes thanking Korea, Gangwon-do and the competition's organizing committee that smoothly prepared and ran the tournament, as well as the volunteers and Koreans.

French snowboarder Maja-Li Iafrate Danielsson, who won the silver medal in both the women's and mixed team snowboard cross, wrote on Instagram, "Thank you for such an amazing experience."

Polish biathlete Amelia Liszka wrote in Korean, "Thank you, Gangwon 2024."

"I'm leaving Korea with a full heart and stomach," Chilean ski team coach Nuria Pau said, posting photos of Gyeongbokgung Palace and other domestic attractions as well as the food he ate here.

BBC TV video journalist Johnny Rutherford posted photos of his on-site coverage of Gangwon 2024 to his X account, along with the message "Thank you South Korea." (Screenshot of Johnny Rutherford's X account)

BBC TV video journalist Johnny Rutherford, who reported live from Gangwon 2024, complimented the event on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "Youth Winter Olympics Gangwon 2024 was cool."

Kaori Kakiuchi, the mother of Japanese men's figure skater Haru Kakiuchi, visited Korea for the first time to watch her son compete.

"When I got off the KTX train, they helped me with my suitcase and while waiting in front of a door that wasn't automatic, they tried showing me how to open it or explained how in Japanese," she wrote on her Facebook account, calling Korea a "really warm country."

She also uploaded videos of Korean food and the competition's stadiums, saying the latter were "filled with support, something I've never experienced in Japan."

km137426@korea.kr