South Korea said on Friday that it had no intention of sharing some of its 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games with its historic rival Japan, rejecting an International Olympic Committee (IOC) suggestion for cost-cutting.
The IOC decided on Monday to allow host cities to move competitions to other towns or even to other countries. The idea was to reduce the cost of hosting the Games by using existing facilities rather than building new ones.
IOC officials have floated the idea of shifting the bobsled and luge events of the 2018 Games to Japan or elsewhere. However, South Korea, where many people harbor resentment against Japan, its one-time colonial ruler, said that it would have none of it.
Pyeongchang Games Organizing Committee chairman Cho Yang-ho “reconfirmed that there was no possibility of moving some events overseas, as the IOC suggested to Pyeongchang,” the committee said in a statement.
Although Cho supported the IOC’s reform ideas, he said “it was difficult for Pyeongchang to adopt them because the construction for all Game venues has already started,” the statement said.
The IOC is eager to reduce the costs of staging the Olympics to make them more sustainable, especially after the huge sum — US$51 billion — that the Russian city of Sochi spent to host to the Winter Games this year has scared off some potential bidders for future Olympics.
IOC president Thomas Bach had said his committee was ready to discuss possible adjustments to the Pyeongchang Games and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Coming venues like Pyeongchang and Tokyo have been hit by budget problems or delays in construction. This month, regional politicians in South Korea appealed for more financial support from the central government, even warning that without extra support Pyeongchang might have to give up its hosting rights.
The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism expects the total cost of the Pyeongchang Olympics to exceed US$10 billion.
Some IOC officials have suggested that South Korean organizers move some of their events to another venue, rather than building white-elephant facilities that will have little utility after the Games. Even though construction for the luge and bobsled track has started, they have suggested that terminating it now would save Pyeongchang millions of dollars, as well as annual maintenance costs. They suggested that Nagano, Japan, the venue for the 1998 Winter Games, might be able to step in to host those events.
On Tuesday, Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon, whose area includes Pyeongchang, said at a news conference that sharing the Games with Japan or another city in South Korea was “not an option.”
“The South Korean people would never accept it,” Choi said.
On Friday, Cho said South Korea would consult with the IOC over cost-saving and the post-Olympics use of the new facilities.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or