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Trouble-Free Games for PyeongChang?


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I know it's been a topic of great discussion on this forum, but will PC be trouble-free next year compared to Sochi and Rio?

I don't know if the last two deserved the bad rap they had going into the Games, but I really wanted them to carry the same aura as London and Vancouver.

I suppose the looming story for PC on the host side (Russian doping not included) is the construction of the bullet train, and if it will be ready by February (December estimated ETC).

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25 minutes ago, A-Money1983 said:

I know it's been a topic of great discussion on this forum, but will PC be trouble-free next year compared to Sochi and Rio?

I don't know if the last two deserved the bad rap they had going into the Games, but I really wanted them to carry the same aura as London and Vancouver.

I suppose the looming story for PC on the host side (Russian doping not included) is the construction of the bullet train, and if it will be ready by February (December estimated ETC).

If the biggest issue PC has to deal with is construction of the bullet train, then they will have had a successful games.  Sadly, the lead-up will likely not be that quiet, for reasons that may or may not be in their control.  IMHO, Sochi and Rio deserved the bad rep the got in their lead-up.  Maybe not so much for Rio with certain things like the prevalence of zika, but a lot of the fears over the post-Games legacy had started to be realized as many people expected.

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I'm so out of the loop on PC, but the venue photos I've seen recently look like those from a host which has things under control.

Rio deserves criticism for some aspects of its Games, and the legacy isn't looking great though I'd still say it's too soon to judge. But ultimately I think it'll go down as a flawed but memorable Olympics. Sochi has to be considered a black mark in the history of the movement now - the nation that invited the world then cheated them, spent ridiculous sums thereby putting off future hosts, and had a President telling Olympics volunteers gay people should leave children alone. Yes, I think PC will certainly be a step up from that stinking host. Whether they can reach the heights of Vancouver, we'll see.

Edited by Rob.
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One thing we know for sure is that the press will hammer PyeongChang for a number on minor issues. It's what the press does. For Sochi, the press (at least the American press) did story after story on the press village, including lack of doors on a few toilets, etc. For Rio, they did hundreds of stories on Zika (ignoring the fact that the games were going to take place in Winter when there are no mosquitos in Rio) and a picture of trash in the bay taken far away from where the actual games too place. But the games themselves went off with very few issues. 

Funny how you mention to positive aura of  Vancouver. Do people not remember how the games were reported at the time? They were the glitch games, the cursed games. An athlete died during practice luge runs... there was a major screwup during the torch lighting in the opening ceremony... the torch location downtown was pathetic, there was no snow for some of the freestyle events, the alpine events were fogged in and hit with weather delays. 

Right now, PyeongChang has the potential for major transportation and housing problems. What's worse is that the pig-headed organizing committee is unwilling to address these issues (at least in public). Are they in denial?

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Lik zekekelso said, press tried to hammer Vancouver back in the day for the "bad" conditions of the ice at the skating arena as well for putting the blame on the organizers for the death of the Georgian athlete the day of the opening. Because as you know already bad news sell more than good ones. And we all know as well Vancouver were pretty good games at the end of the day. 

Athens, while the post legacy was indeed a huge mess, its organization wasn't as terrible as most predicted because of the delays (and compared to Rio it was still somewhat better).

Pyeongchang, unlike Drugchi and Rio, is a host from a country which is enough mature and experienced at hosting sport events and has everything under control. The biggest worries are the bullet train, like most already mentioned, plus the fears assistance might be low (currently 48% of koreans aren't interested in the games, though its not a bad number compared to the very low interest of italians back in Torino 2006 for example). And then, there is the traumatizing memory of the mess which were the ticket sales of the 2002 WC which no one want to ever repeat. Here's hoping they manage to solve these issues in time or else i'm afraid these WOG will have the lowest attendance/interest since Torino. 

On a secondary note, some feel S.Korea has a bad reputation of giving way too much advantage to their athletes whenever they're hosting an event. (That controversy surounding the female boxing event when an indian boxer lost against a national at Incheon 2014, the infamous Round of 16-Quarter Finals of the 2002 WC, Roy Jones Jr. defeat at Lightweight boxing in Seoul against Park Si-Hun). I hope we don't see an ugly controversy like these in Pyeongchang.

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I believe that PyeongChang will be a formidable issue compared to Rio and Sochi, the press will always lift negative aspects, in winter games this can be boosted by lack of snow.

My biggest concern is that the games have a proper look and that there is a wide attendance for the sports sessions.

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On 2/20/2017 at 4:08 AM, brasilolimpico said:

I believe that PyeongChang will be a formidable issue compared to Rio and Sochi, the press will always lift negative aspects, in winter games this can be boosted by lack of snow.

My biggest concern is that the games have a proper look and that there is a wide attendance for the sports sessions.

western press are a bit bias when the Games is not happened in Western Europe or North America.

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5 hours ago, budse said:

western press are a bit bias when the Games is not happened in Western Europe or North America.

They were pretty vicious with Vancouver too.

Every Olympics collects a storm of criticism now. London only treated a bit better because the patriotism of the English tabloids.

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1 hour ago, Nacre said:

They were pretty vicious with Vancouver too.

Every Olympics collects a storm of criticism now. London only treated a bit better because the patriotism of the English tabloids.

That patriotism wasn't around leading up to the games. The British media were pretty critical of the spending for the games and the architecture of some of the venues. Of course that all was non-existent when the games finally happened. 

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1 hour ago, LatinXTC said:

That patriotism wasn't around leading up to the games. The British media were pretty critical of the spending for the games and the architecture of some of the venues. Of course that all was non-existent when the games finally happened. 

And the design of the logo and mascots, and the fact we had a stadium announcer with an American accent, and the fact the union flag on the team kits omitted red, and the travel chaos that would definitely happen, and that Greenwich Park would be ruined forever by the equestrian, and how silly our Games would be after Beijing's, how nothing would be built on time...

Bashing the Olympics was practically a national sport for the tabloids for seven years leading to 2012.

 

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8 hours ago, Rob. said:

Lol. You have a funny memory. 

IIRC the English papers were very critical of spending beforehand (and about the Olympic Stadium afterwards) but were very positive during the actual Olympics themselves. Of course part of that is due to London doing a great job with the games. But I think Vancouver did a decent job too: they couldn't do much to control the weather or stop an athlete from dying in a freak accident in an extreme sport. And yet they were hammered in the media.

In any case I don't think any city should host with the idea that they are going to garner good publicity. Every minor failing is blown up into a mountain (we are all going to contract the Zika virus!!!) and most of the successes ignored. (Like Brazil managing to pull off a decent Olympics during a massive economic and political crisis.) Thinking it will be any different for South Korea seems silly.

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Vancouver could have been a disaster if not for one very important thing; VANOC spent a considerable amount of time and energy in getting the whole country invested and interested. Even than it wasn't really until the feel good story of Alexandre Bilodeau winning the first gold medal that it became what we remember.

Pyeongchang is probably going to fall into the category of Nagano and Torino.

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Canada has always been a country with a deep love for winter sports. Pretty much like in nordic countries. So I was always assured the games were going to be a huge success.

Italy, Japan and South Korea, on the other hand, while they've improved a lot in the WOG and achieved many things, the general populace prefers watching either football or baseball. While their games were/will be a success organization wise and for those who watched it outside of the host countries, on their own homecountries they will mostly go unnoticed. Korea still holds in high regard the 1988 games as the beggining of their own boom (much like 1964 was for Japan).

They're a much different country compared to back then and pretty much hosted every sport event possible already, so its normal people are not going to get that excited for the olympics.

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I think that organisation-wise, Pyeongchang and South Korea will deliver very solid Games (at the very least). But atmosphere-wise, I'm not so sure. I still remember the biathlon world championships in 2009 there which had a ridiculous lack of spectators (and that drew a lot of criticism from international athletes, officials and media) and even snow (but that can change, of course, and can't be influenced anyway). I think that South Korea lacks so much of a strong winter sports tradition that they will probably struggle hard to fill their venues. But, as always, I'm of course open to positive surprises. ;)

And if I might be a bit nationalistic (after Brexit and Trump's election, this seems to be very much in fashion currently ;)): From a German point of view, Pyeongchang could become enjoyable Games, at least more enjoyable than Sochi. I mean, the biathletes and nordic athletes (especially in nordic combined) currently are very strong, and I hope they can repeat that performance one year from now. The only downside for us in Europe is the time shift with many events taking place early in the morning by our time. Tough times for working people like me, but that will be the case of course for all Olympic Games up to 2022.

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  • 11 months later...

Didn't wanted to necropost but looks like these Games might not be trouble-free at all since this could become more serious than 2016's Zika if keep unchecked :unsure:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/07/583948857/south-korea-tries-to-stamp-out-olympics-norovirus-outbreak

Quote

South Korea Tries To Stamp Out Olympics Norovirus Outbreak

It won't be long before South Korea kicks off its grand turn on the world stage, but the specter of illness is already haunting the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Organizers have removed some 1,200 security personnel from their posts and quarantined them in their rooms after several dozen tested positive for norovirus.

The nasty stomach bug — which often results in vomiting, diarrhea and just a general sense of extreme gastric discomfort — has depleted the ranks of security staff on site, prompting organizers to seek out temporary replacements.

"To address the shortfall in security workforce due to the isolation, 900 military personnel have been deployed to take over the work of the civil safety personnel," the Olympic organizing committee said in a statement quoted by The Associated Press. "They will work across 20 venues until all affected workforce are able to return to duty."

 

The International Olympic Committee said it is also distributing leaflets to the general population detailing proper measures for virus prevention and treatment.

The IOC's executive director for the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, told reporters they are taking no risks in the bid to contain the outbreak to prevent it from disrupting athletes and spectators.

"We don't know exactly what the source was," he said at a news conference Tuesday, according to the Korean news service Yonhap, "but when it comes to the food and beverage the whole chain of securing the quality of food, they are definitely respecting all international standards."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains norovirus is highly contagious, often spread through physical contact or contaminated food. It is behind some 685 million suspected cases worldwide per year, and though it poses mortal danger to only a very small percentage of the population, it is nevertheless a highly unpleasant and dehydrating illness — one that would likely prove fatal to the medal aspirations of an infected Olympian, at least.

   

Just six months ago, at the world athletics championships in London, at least 30 athletes — hailing from national teams from Germany to Botswana — came down with norovirus. Several of those infected had to withdraw from their events.

"They're really making the ultimate possible effort to make sure that everybody is aware," Dubi said, "and where there are cases, that the right measures are taken."

 

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