Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, will host the Nordic combined and ski jumping events at the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics.
By Yoon Seungjin
Photos = Yoon Seungjin
Starting in just under a month, the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics (Gangwon 2024) is poised to illuminate the challenges and passions of a new generation of winter sports athletes.
From Dec. 12-13, the Korean Culture and Information Service and the competition's organizing committee held a media familiarization tour for domestic and foreign reporters to show the state of preparation ahead of the tournament.
Journalists from the U.S., Russia, Vietnam, China, Australia and Korea toured competition venues like Gangneung Curling Centre, the Gangneung Oval and Alpensia Sliding Centre to see their preparation.
National curlers Jang Yu-bin (left) and Lee So-won on Dec. 12 answer questions from reporters at Gangneung Curling Centre in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province.
On the morning of Dec. 12, the reporters visited the curling center on the first leg of the tour. The national women's curling team, dubbed "Team Kim" since all of its members have the same surname -- Kim Eun-jung, Kim Yeong-mi, Kim Seon-yeong, Kim Kyeong-ae and Kim Cho-hi -- made history in 2018 by winning the silver medal at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Also there were curlers Jang Yu-bin and Lee So-won, both of whom will compete in Gangwon 2024 and are from Team Kim's alma mater Uiseong Girls' High School.
"Watching my seniors at the PyeongChang Olympics made me dream of becoming a curler," Jang said, "I'll train well over the rest of the year to achieve good results."
Lee added, "I definitely want to win a medal here, where Team Kim won the silver."
The group went on to visit Gangneung Hockey Centre, which will host the Olympic sport of five-on-five hockey and the three-on-three format newly adopted for Gangwon 2024.
"We have to play three-on-three first and then five-on-five, so we're practicing transitioning within 16 hours from thick to thin ice," said Jeong Myung-soo, the ice maker who manages the center. "This is a first in the nation, so we must practice several times."
Reporters on a media tour for Gangwon 2024 on Dec. 12 visit the Gangneung Oval in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province, where the opening ceremony will be held on Jan. 19. The event's organizing committee said the ice track will undergo reconstruction from Jan. 2-12.
On the second day of the tour, the group toured the Gangneung Oval, where the opening ceremony will take place, before visiting the sliding center, which will host bobsledding, skeleton and luge. Yun Sungbin won the country's first gold medal in men's skeleton at the PyeongChang Olympics.
National luger Kim Ha-yoon expressed excitement over his country's first hosting of the Winter Youth Olympics.
"I can achieve better results because I've been training consistently at the actual stadium," he said. "Unlike most tracks overseas, the one in Pyeongchang-gun is more convenient because the starting lines for the youth, junior and women's tracks are connected so there's space to rest."
"Gangwon-do Province has experience in successfully hosting a Winter Olympics," committee spokesperson Kim Jaehwan said in announcing the event's progress and preparation status report at the PyeongChang Olympic Museum. "Based on the legacy of the PyeongChang Olympics, this competition will entertain youth through a variety of cultural activities before, during and after the Games."
Alpensia Sliding Centre in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, will host bobsledding, skeleton and luge at the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics.
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