POCOG President Mr Hee-Beom Lee thanked everyone at the end of the 3 day PyeongChang 2018 NOC Chef de Mission Seminar. It was an opportunity to get all the important information and updates to assist preparations for the PyeongChang 2018 Games.
He said “As athletes are the heart of the Games, it is also essential for us to listen and learn from your expertise and experiences to move forward in our final planning for operational readiness. We will do our best to deliver a most memorable and athlete-centered Games for all NOC delegations.”
“It is great to be in PyeongChang with just a little over a year to go until Games-time,” said Team Ireland Chef de Mission Stephen Martin “These few days are really invaluable for NOC’s planning- to see the venues and villages, to hear more from the organizing committee on the final planning phase. The Games are really starting to take shape and I have been very impressed by what I have seen here so far. Our athletes are pushing to qualify and i know they will be delighted with the overall environment established for 2018.
Martin who has led Winter teams with Teamgb and TeamIrl since Salt Lake City 2002 added “The final Chef de Mission seminar has provided us with an invaluable update across a range of areas including logistics, transport, sports venue layout and villages, medical, chef de mission collaboration etc. Delegations from 80 countries represented were particularly impressed by the compactness of the two clusters and the proximity of the competition venues to the Olympic Villages”
Aside from several presentations, delegates were taken on a tour of the Olympic competition and non-competition venues in both the coastal and mountain cluster areas. Day one covered the ice sport venues of Gangneung,Day 2 moved onto the snow sport venues in PyeongChang as well as the non-competition venues which include the Olympic Village, and Opening and Closing Ceremony venue – the Olympic Plaza. The final day focused on Jeongseon and Bokwang where the Alpine Skiiing speed events and Freestyle Skiing/Snowboard will take place respectively.
