Lausanne, Switzerland, January 22, 2020: The closing ceremony of the IOC’s 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games took place in the Olympic capital Lausanne on Wednesday night – and the flag was passed to Gangwon province in Korea, host of the next Winter YOG in 2024.
Lausanne 2020 brought together 1,872 athletes from 79 National Olympic Committees in eight sports, 16 disciplines and 81 events from January 9-22.
Asia will now be the focus of the global winter sports movement as the next Winter Olympics will be in Beijing in 2022 followed two years later by the Winter YOG in Gangwon, which will use existing venues from the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018 – snow events at PyeongChang and ice events in Gangneung.
From the beginning of the dialogue with Korean officials, the IOC has indicated that it would be ready to accept the National Olympic Committee of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a partner in the organisation of the fourth Winter YOG, if the circumstances allow.
“The leaders of the two Koreas have agreed to pursue joint participation in the Youth Olympics,” said Park Yang Woo, the Republic of Korea’s minister for culture sport and tourism. “The entire government of Korea will fully support the idea of having DPRK on board as co-hosts.”
Seo Whi-min, gold medallist in the women’s 500m and 1000m short track speed skating, said: “I am proud we will be hosting the next Winter YOG. It will be a very good opportunity for our athletes to compete at a high level and also for many people to support the Games.”
Choi Moon Soon, the Governor of Gangwon, said it would be a proud moment for Korea to become the first Asian host of a Winter YOG. “It will continue PyeongChang’s legacy,” he said.
Source: www.olympic.org