Signing up: Jin-Sun Kim and Young Choi / PyeongChang2018

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT / Sports Features Communications

PYEONGCHANG, Mar 25: New investment in ski-jump facilities is going into the Alpensia resort at PyeongChang which is bidding to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2018.

The formal signing of the agreement was undertaken by Jin-Sun Kim, governor of Gangwon Province and co-chairman of the PyeongChang bid committee, and Young Choi, chief executive of Gangwon Land, a leisure and entertainment resort.

The development should enable ski jump athletes at Gangwon Province’s High1 Sports Club and young ski jump prospects to have access to the ski jump venue at Alpensia. Gangwon Land is also supporting the development of ski jumping by investing $4m on equipment and coaching over the next four years.

It will also manage the Youth Club Ski Jump to help encourage young people to participate in the sport.

World-class experience

Jin-Sun Kim said: “We are very proud of our world class experience in ice sports, particularly short track speed skating and figure skating. The excellent performances of our athletes at the Vancouver Winter Games highlighted our strength in these disciplines.

"We now look to improve our performances in other winter sports and this landmark investment will provide us with the momentum to inspire young people to participate in ski jumping, help develop their skills, and grow further interest in winter sports.”

Alpensia is one of the principal Olympic clusters in PyeongChang’s Games Plan and would be the location of the main Olympic Village and several competition venues. Many of Korea’s competitors in Vancouver are members of Gangwon Land’s High1 Sports Club.

Also bidding for the 2018 Winter Games are Annecy and Munich.