A Huge Honor for Korea

Chmn. Cho of PyeongChang Bidding Committee recalls gripping moment in Durban and the children of PyeongChang

Chairman Cho Yang-ho of Korean Airlines and also chairman of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics Bidding Committee said he thought of those young kids in PyeongChang who came out to greet the IOC inspection team when they visited their hometown's winter sports facilities.
Chairman Cho said they were there despite the severe cold in an effort to support their town's bid to hold the 2018 Winter Olympics by welcoming the IOC inspection team and although they will be all grown up by the time the international sports event takes place in their town, they will cherish the time when they welcomed the IOC inspection team.
Cho recalled that he became truly confident that PyeongChang's third bid would be a success when about 40 IOC members said hello to him at the wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco on July 2 since not many IOC members had spoken to him before then.
He said it was the presentation at the IOC meeting that did the job of winning the hosting rights for PyeongChang. He said he received speech training from a well-known speech specialist in London for about a year and half, two hours a day, three days a week. He often listened to speeches made by such famous leaders as Churchill, Kennedy and Lincoln, not to mention President Obama, so that he could deliver his speech well at the presentation in Durban.
Cho said at first they figured they could get as many 50 votes, but got 63 in the first ballot, which he thought was due to President Lee making the rounds with many IOC members at the last minute in Durban, bringing in the additional 13 votes. Meanwhile, Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who is also a Korean IOC member, swayed about 20 to 30 votes. The rest of the votes were the combined results of the others involved in the effort including Chairman Park Yong-song of the Korea Amateur Sports Association, Kim Yu-na, an Olympic figure skating champion in Vancouver, Canada, last year, and other Korean Winter Olympic gold medal winners.
Cho said that he thinks the head of the Organizing Committee for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics should be a CEO with an excellent international knowledge, saying that he hasn't considered taking the job even if it were offered. But he thought about playing a role in some capacity to make the international sports event a hugely successful affair. nw

Chairman Cho Yang-ho of Korean Air and also chairman of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Bid Committee is enthralled at the IOC announcement that PyeongChang won the hosting rights for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Photo on Courtesy of the MCST