One month to go until the start of the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games
We’re just one month away from another Olympic Games in South Korea: the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games 2024 (or Gangwon 2024). For two weeks starting January 19, more than 1,900 youth athletes from more than 80 countries will gather in the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Pyeongchang, Gangneung, Jeongseon, and Hwaseong) to compete in seven games and 15 sports. In addition to providing a glimpse into the sports stars of the future, the event is the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Asia and the largest in history, so the eyes of the global sports community are on it.
With a month to go before the Games begin, a series of star-studded YouTube content releases this week will help build excitement for the Games. First, the IOC’s YouTube channel will feature “Soon Medal Counseling Center,” featuring actor Lee Dong-wook, the world’s first International Olympic Committee (IOC) “Olympic™ Friends,” and volleyball player Kim Yeon-kyung, who recently established a foundation to support youth sports. The video will feature Lee Dong-wook, a senior in life, and Kim Yeon-kyung, a senior national athlete, counseling youth athletes on their concerns, and the chemistry between Lee Dong-wook, who is experienced in hosting talk shows, and Kim Yeon-kyung, who has a great sense of entertainment, will make for interesting stories. Another highlight is the special appearance of the tournament mascot Muncho in the video.
There will also be content where you can participate in the preparation for the Games. Shuhua from idol’s K-Alba experience “Workdoll” visits the Olympic Sliding Center in Pyeongchang to manage the track with a daily ice maker and experience the sledding event. This is the same venue where skeleton athlete Yoon Sung-bin won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Gangwon 2024’s co-organizers are also notable for their sports stars. Olympic gold medalists in shooting and speed skating, Jin Jong-oh and Lee Sang-hwa, sat down with SVS News to talk about their journey to becoming Olympians, their training regimens, their sports, and their intuition for Gangwon 2024. In addition, K-pop, sports stars, and influencers will be promoting the event.
As a youth Olympic Games, the event is expected to be a festival where people can enjoy sports and culture together. There will be cultural programs to expand the experiences and exchanges of athletes from around the world, and visitors will be able to experience winter sports such as snow tubing and skating, performances, dance parties, and lectures by Kim Yeon-ah at festival sites in four cities.
It follows the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, making it an important part of the Olympic legacy. In addition to using the same facilities, many of the people involved in the organizing committee are veterans of the last Games. The Gangwon 2024 Organizing Committee invited local media to the venue last week to showcase the preparations. The organizers said that the facilities, including stadiums and athletes’ accommodation, as well as the cold measures for spectators, medical services, and operational personnel, are being prepared in detail.
“Over the next month, the IOC, the organizing committee, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, and the 2018 Pyeongchang Memorial 사설토토 Foundation are all working together to make this a world-class sporting event and a festival to promote K-Culture,” said an organizing committee official.
Tickets for Gangwon 2024 can be purchased on the Games website. All events, except the Opening Ceremony, are free to attend, but tickets for some events are nearing sellout and should be purchased in advance to ensure a smooth experience. Ticket holders will also be able to enjoy a wide range of free programming on each host city’s festival site.
