Figure skating champ Kim Yu-na optimistic about Korea’s chances


Ahead of PyeongChang’s Olympic bid presentation in Togo this week, figure skater Kim Yu-na said Monday that she was optimistic about the South Korean candidate city’s chances to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“We’ve all worked hard so far, and I am confident we will have good results in the end,” Kim said before departing for the African nation.

PyeongChang is set to give a presentation at the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa General Assembly on Tuesday. Kim, an Olympic gold medalist, is one of the presenters as an honorary ambassador for PyeongChang.

PyeongChang’s two rivals, Munich in Germany and Annecy in France, will also present at the meeting with International Olympic Committee members on hand. PyeongChang’s bidding committee said it will be the candidates’ final joint presentation before the IOC votes on the host city at its General Assembly on July 6 in Durban, South Africa.

PyeongChang, an alpine town located about 180 kilometers east of Seoul, is bidding to host the country’s first Winter Games. It came up short in two earlier bids, narrowly losing to Vancouver, Canada, for the 2010 Games and to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Olympics.

The candidate cities last held a joint presentation in May at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Kim also presented there.

“I’ve practiced for a couple of weeks,” Kim said with a smile.

“I’ve done this in Lausanne, and I am not as nervous now. It’s become easier for me.”

As the reigning Olympic champion in ladies’ figure skating, a marquee event in the Winter Games, Kim drew the spotlight in Lausanne. But she rejected the notion that she is a main player in the bidding efforts.

“I was new on board at the time, and that’s probably why people took notice,” Kim said. “There are a lot of people who’ve been working hard on the bidding committee, and I am just trying to help out a little bit.”

PyeongChang has built its case around running a compact, athlete-friendly Olympics with all venues within 30 minutes of each other, and on building a new legacy for winter sports in Asia.

Japan is the only Asian country to have hosted the Winter Olympics ― in 1972 in Sapporo and 1998 in Nagano.

Kim said she will try to highlight those points and more to the audience.

“I want to show how I nurtured my dreams of competing at the Winter Olympics and how a Winter Games in PyeongChang can influence young athletes,” Kim said. “I will also emphasize that Asia hasn’t hosted the Winter Olympics for a long time and PyeongChang is ready to stage a good Olympics for athletes.”

Kim said IOC members have said positive things about all three candidates, and it was hard to decide whom to believe.

“I do have a feeling that things are going our way,” Kim said. “But we have to see what happens at the end.” 

(Yonhap News)