Pyeongchang won't part with 2018 Winter Olympics events

Pyeongchang will host all events of the 2018 Winter Olympics

Seoul, Dec 12 (IANS)

Hosts Pyeongchang have rejected a proposal to move some of the events of the 2018 Winter Olympics to another country to save costs. Pyeongchang Winter Games organising committee president Cho Yang-ho said in a statement Friday that they would like to keep all the competition at home, reports Xinhua.

"We will study the options once we receive more detailed information from the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," Cho said.

"But for now, it is our wish to have all events staged in PyeongChang, Gangneung and Jeongseon (two neighboring towns) as per our original bid plan accepted by the IOC."

This was the first official statement issued by Pyeongchang since the IOC earlier in the week unanimously approved the 40 recommendations put out by its president, Thomas Bach, called "Olympic Agenda 2020." It included an option for the host city to stage some competitions in different countries to save costs.

It was earlier reported the IOC was urging Pyeongchang organisers to halt their construction of a new sliding venue and move bobsleigh and luge competitions to another country.