OLYMPICS
September 5, 2016
The Associated Press
IO DE JANEIRO — Organizers of
the 2018 Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang, South Korea, set up
a virtual-reality ski simulator — complete
with fake, blowing snow — on Copacabana
Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
“Having sun and sand is normal here,
but not snow,” said local Danieli
Evangelista, stepping off the make-believe
ski slope after waiting in line for 30
minutes for a taste of winter during the
Summer Olympics. “Hardly anyone here
ever sees snow. It’s very cool, a very real
effect.”
It’s also about to get very real for the
next hosts of the Olympic Games.
“We’re not ready to go today, but we’re
getting ready,” Kim Jaeyoul, vice
president of the Pyeongchang organizing
committee, told The Associated Press.
South Korea’s games will be the first of
three straight held in Asia, joining the
Tokyo Summer Games in 2020 and the
Beijing Winter Games in 2022. These come
after a run of difficult games in Sochi,
Russia, and now Rio de Janeiro, with the
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
looking for “a safe pair of hands,” as Tokyo
labelled its winning bid three years ago.
Yet organizers in Pyeongchang have
struggled with construction delays, local
conflicts over venues, and a slow pace in
attracting domestic sponsorship. This
contrasts with the smoother run-ups to the
1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2002 World
Cup that South Korea co-hosted with
Japan.
“Unlike the 1988 Olympics and the 2002
World Cup, it was not the central
government, but a province, that led the
efforts to bring the Olympics,” said
Heejoon Chung, who teaches sports
science at South Korea’s Dong-A
University. “There is a sentiment that the
Winter
Games
are
more
about
Pyeongchang than the nation as a whole.”
The Pyeongchang organizing committee
named Lee Hee-beom its new president
three months ago. It was the second
leadership change in two years, and that’s
worried the IOC.
Lee bowed to IOC president Thomas
Bach, and then to almost 100 IOC mem-
bers, before addressing the full member-
ship just days before the Rio Olympics
opened.
“I’d like to assure you that our prepara-
tions are fully on track,” Lee told them.
In introducing him, Bach called Lee a
“very dynamic and reliable leader,” and
joked that he “promised he will be with us”
until the games take place.
Organizers say that after a rocky start,
90 percent of the sponsorship target of
$760 million will be met at the end of the
year. Sponsorship will provide about
one-third of the 2.2 trillion won, or $2
billion, operating budget. Kim said the
budget would be adjusted in the next few
weeks, compensating for inflation.
Six new competition venues are about 80
percent complete, and a new high-speed
rail line will be finished in June of 2017
and in operation the following January.
The line will link Incheon airport to
Pyeongchang and reduce travel time to 90
minutes from almost twice that much.
Pyeongchang is also building a contro-
versial sliding center for bobsled, luge, and
skeleton, after rejecting an IOC suggestion
that it use a complex previously con-
structed for the games in Nagano, Japan,
to save money. The cost is 124 billion won
($112 million) for a venue that could be a
white elephant if not managed properly.
Continued on page 13
R
Continued from page 7
during a qualifying heat that sponsor
restrictions meant he couldn’t race in his
cap and goggles. This seemed to throw him
off, and he swam poorly, failing to qualify
for either event.
By 2016, Schooling had become such a
star that his country’s president travelled
to Brazil to cheer him on. In the 100-meter
butterfly, Schooling posted the top time in
both the preliminary and semifinal heats.
This put him in the driver’s seat in the
final, facing not only Phelps, but also
László Cseh of Hungary, who swam the
best time in the world this year, and South
Africa’s Chad le Clos, the 2012 silver
medallist in the event.
In the 2016 final, Schooling led the
formidable field the entire way, finishing
in an Olympic record time of 50.39 seconds,
breaking the record Phelps set in Beijing.
Phelps himself finished a whopping three-
quarters of a second behind Schooling, in a
three-way silver-medal tie with le Clos and
Cseh.
After the race, Schooling said humbly, “I
don’t think I’m anywhere close to these
three guys right next to me, I just had a
good day today.” He went on to say he
hoped he could show “that even people
from the smallest countries in the world
can achieve a lot of things.” For his part,
Phelps said, “I’m proud of Joe [Schooling]
… I wanted to change the sport of
swimming. With the people we have in the
sport now, I think you are seeing it.”
As in Fiji, Singapore celebrated
Schooling’s medal across the country and
online. The prime minister said on
Facebook: “It is an incredible feat, to
compete among the world’s best, stay
focused, and emerge victorious.” Lottery
tickets with Schooling’s winning time
quickly sold out, and social media exploded
with congratulatory posts.
Asian athletes continue to make inroads
in international sports, and the Olympics
provide the perfect stage for them to show
off their advancement. Fiji’s performance
was largely expected, but Japan and
Singapore broke new ground in rugby and
swimming. With the 2020 Olympics
scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Asian
sports fans already have plenty to look
forward to. These breakthrough perfor-
mances in Rio will raise that anticipation
another notch.
q
Cup Craze: Souvenir
Olympic cups were a hot item
Continued from page 7
Maybe he wouldn’t mind serving as a
true arm rest for the cups at the next
Olympic bash.
While stuffed trash bags and over-
flowing bins of Skol aluminum beer cans
were a sore sight at the games, there was
not a plastic cup around to recycle.
“It has been a good way to keep litter
down,” Rodriguez said.
In memory of Arnold
Little brother w Protective son
Loving fiancé w Playful uncle
Outgoing cousin w Loyal friend
You are missed … and always remembered.
December 24, 1972 - September 11, 2001
AP Photo/Michael Sohn
By Stephen Wade and
Kim Tong-Hyung
Fiji, Singapore celebrate Olympic firsts
AP Photo/Yong Teck Lim
From Copa to Korea:
Winter Games in
Pyeongchang next up
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 9
SELFIES WITH SCHOOLING. Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling, top photo, won a gold medal
in the men’s 100-meter butterfly and made history by winning the country’s first gold medal at the 2016 Summer
Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the bottom photo, Schooling, right, poses for a selfie after his arrival at Sin-
gapore Changi Airport in Singapore.