The opening of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, which will be held from February 9 to 25, will start within 100 days. Since the 1988 Olympics and the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, Korea has waited 16 years to host a worldwide sports competition. With this event, we can gain economic benefits such as developing Gangwon Province and creating various jobs related to the Olympics.

  The Winter Olympics are a sporting event in which national athletes compete in winter sports. It has been held every four years since 1924. Unlike the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics’ games are played on snow and ice. They include skiing, snow boarding, curling, skating, hockey, bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton. At the Pyeongchang Olympic Games, there will be three new sports held on the snow and ice fields. Therefore, athletes will compete for over 100 gold medals for the first time.

  Every Olympic Games, mascots and a sacred-torch relay are planned for. As mascots for the Pyeongchang Olympics, ‘Suhorang’ and ‘Bandabi’ were selected. Suhorang represents a spiritual animal, the white tiger, that protects the west. Bandabi is a symbol of the representative animal of Gangwon Province, the Asiatic black bear, and was given a name containing ‘bi’ to commemorate the event. The torch relay will begin on November 1. The torch was made from Korean traditional white porcelain and will be carried out by 7,500 runners about 2018 kilometers.

  South Korea has been well known for speed skating and short track for a long time. Shim Suk-hee of short track fame, has already received a lot of attention because she got medals in the women’s 1000m, 1500m short track events and 3000m relay short track events at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Lee Seung-hoon is also one of the most promising athletes in speed skating and mass start (a new sports entry in speed skating). Lee Sang-hwa won the women's 500m speed skating gold medal at the last two Winter Olympics and is challenging for the title again.

  The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games are a very meaningful national event in that South Korea was not selected to host the Olympics in 2010 and 2014 because they were awarded to Vancouver and Sochi, respectively. They are also the largest event to be held since President Moon Jae-in took office. An international sporting event is enjoyable because it unites the global village, and makes people gain vitality of life by cheering for their own country. As the scale is global, much preparation and effort will be needed to ensure that Korea hosts a successful Winter Olympics.