South Korea to host 2018 Winter Games
DURBAN, South Africa-The International Olympic Committee named Pyeongchang, South Korea, as the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
IOC President Jacques Rogge announced the decision.
The candidates were Pyeongchang, which was the favorite; Munich, Germany; and Annecy, France.
Pyeongchang will be the first city in Asia outside Japan to host the Winter Games. Japan held the games in Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.
The voting was decided in the first round. It's the first time an Olympic bid race with more than two finalists was decided in the first round since 1995, when Salt Lake City defeated three others to win the 2002 Winter Games.
Had no majority been reached in the opening round, the city with the fewest votes would have been eliminated and the two remaining cities gone to a second and final ballot.
The vote totals weren't immediately released. A majority was required for victory, meaning Pyeongchang received at least 48 votes among the eligible 95 voters.
There had been speculation of a possible first-round win for Pyeongchang, which led in each of the first rounds in the votes for the 2010 and 2014 Games but then lost in the final rounds to Vancouver and Sochi.
The Korean victory followed the IOC's trend in recent votes, having taken the Winter Games to Russia (Sochi) for the first time in 2014 and giving South America its first Olympics with the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
More at the source.
How exciting! As a spectator, I do like the IOC's attempts to rotate the continents.
IOC President Jacques Rogge announced the decision.
The candidates were Pyeongchang, which was the favorite; Munich, Germany; and Annecy, France.
Pyeongchang will be the first city in Asia outside Japan to host the Winter Games. Japan held the games in Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.
The voting was decided in the first round. It's the first time an Olympic bid race with more than two finalists was decided in the first round since 1995, when Salt Lake City defeated three others to win the 2002 Winter Games.
Had no majority been reached in the opening round, the city with the fewest votes would have been eliminated and the two remaining cities gone to a second and final ballot.
The vote totals weren't immediately released. A majority was required for victory, meaning Pyeongchang received at least 48 votes among the eligible 95 voters.
There had been speculation of a possible first-round win for Pyeongchang, which led in each of the first rounds in the votes for the 2010 and 2014 Games but then lost in the final rounds to Vancouver and Sochi.
The Korean victory followed the IOC's trend in recent votes, having taken the Winter Games to Russia (Sochi) for the first time in 2014 and giving South America its first Olympics with the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
More at the source.
How exciting! As a spectator, I do like the IOC's attempts to rotate the continents.