The two-day conference kicked off at Alpensia Convention Center with bilateral meetings among Cho Yoon-sun, the South Korean sports minister; Liu Peng, secretary of the State General Administration of Sports in China; and Hirokazu Matsuno, the Japanese minister of sports.
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Bach and six other representatives from the IOC, including Coordination Commission chair Gunilla Lindberg and Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi, visited South Korea to inspect Pyeongchang 2018’s preparations during the meetings.
On Friday, the three ministers are scheduled for further meetings and will issue a joint declaration after.
The main organizers of the three Olympics have already met in Rio de Janeiro last month during the Olympics to talk about the upcoming sports events. And I think it means a great deal to hold this meeting at this particular point.
In his congratulatory speech, Bach said, “Some scholars have said we are living in the century of Asia, and in Olympic terms, I can confirm that this is the time of Asia”.
“Following on from Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016, in which Mike played a vital role as Deputy Chef de Mission, Team GB is going from strength to strength as the success of the team and Olympic sport as a whole continues”.
“These three Olympic Games in Asia are a unique opportunity for Asia and also for the Olympic Movement”.
“Through the Pyeongchang declaration, we acknowledged that sports cooperation and exchanges can become an important foundation for understanding people in each country and we promised to work toward future-oriented cooperation”.
The coins are designed with images which represent PyeongChang 2018 and the seven Olympic winter sports.
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POCOG President Lee mentioned, “PyeongChang will be the second city to host the Olympic Games in Korea after Seoul 1988. For Asia, it will be a unique opportunity to show its unity”. He saw the great progess being made at the figure skating, speed skating and ice hockey venues, which will all host test events this winter.
