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Topic Started: Apr 12 2018, 08:47 AM (21 Views)
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A woman walks by an official mascot of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games Cheap Air Max Mens , white tiger Soohorang, before the event to mark the start of the 500-day countdown in Seoul on September 27. Photo: ICd
As test events start this week for the 2018 Winter Olympics, host Pyeongchang is facing the uncomfortable truth that it's a place not many people have heard of.


When it comes to name recognition, the isolated South Korean ski resort remains resolutely off-piste - and can also be confused with the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.


Promotional efforts aren't being helped by news reports linking Pyeongchang to the snowballing corruption scandal engulfing South Korea's President Park Geun-hye.


But organizers hope -Pyeongchang's profile will rise as it embarks on a five-month program of test events starting with a snowboard World Cup competition this week.


Alpine skiing and figure skating are also among 26 competitions to be held at Olympic venues before the end of April Cheap Air Max Online , a hectic and challenging schedule for the hosts.


"The biggest challenge at the moment is how to promote the Games over the world, because this is a small place," the head of the IOC Coordination Commission on Pyeongchang, Gunilla Lindberg, said last month. "It's not Rio de Janeiro and it's not London."


It's also quite remote.


Arrivals at South Korea's main Incheon international airport face a 250-kilometer journey to the other side of the peninsula - a three-and-a-half-hour trip by car.


A high-speed rail link connecting Seoul and Gangneung - a coastal city some 40 kilometers east of -Pyeongchang - is expected to open in July next year.


Pyeongchang not Pyongyang


Because of limited space in Pyeongchang Cheap Air Max Free Shipping , many athletes and spectators will stay in Gangneung, which is hosting the ice skating events.


The launch of ticket sales has been postponed until February, a year before the Games starts, with organizers hoping for a recognition bounce from the busy winter schedule.


"Maybe it could be a bit easier if Pyeongchang was as well-known as Seoul or Vancouver, but it's not a major factor Cheap Air Max Outlet ," said You Ji-hyun, a spokesperson for the organizing committee.


"The test events will be key in bringing the international winter sports fans' attention to Pyeongchang."


Organizers will also be hoping that no visitors make the same mistake as the Kenyan delegate to a UN conference held in Pyeongchang in 2014, who mistakenly flew to Pyongyang.


Landing without a valid visa, he was interrogated for five hours by North -Korean customs officials and fined $500.


To help people differentiate, provincial authorities have "rebranded" the resort as "PyeongChang Cheap Air Max Shoes ," with an uppercase "C."


The IOC picked Pyeongchang as the Games host in 2011, favoring it over Munich in Germany and the French Alpine town of Annecy.


Total cost is estimated at 13.4 trillion won ($11.4 billion), with infrastructure accounting for 11.2 trillion won.


Initial preparations were dogged by construction delays and funding shortages, and things got so bad at one point that the IOC floated the possibility of moving some events to other countries such as Japan.


Corruption claims


The situation turned around after Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho took over as head of the organizing committee in July 2014, bringing in some big corporate sponsors like Samsung and getting the infrastructure schedule back on track.


But Cho abruptly stepped down from the post in May - a surprise move explained at the time by a desire to focus on his ailing shipping business.


Allegations have since emerged that he was pressured to resign after refusing to award an Olympic contract to a firm linked with Choi Soon-sil - a close friend of President Park Geun-hye who was formally indicted last week on charges of coercion and abuse of power.


Cho has described media reports that he was forced out for refusing to help Choi as "90 percent correct" - but his successor Cheap Air Max , former trade minister Lee Hee-beom, has described them as exaggerated.


"We are confident that most of the tenders for Pyeongchang 2018 were handled through the public tender process, which cannot be affected by outside factors," said spokesperson You.


Another key date for the organizers will come in January, when the US National Hockey League (NHL) decides whether to shut down to allow players to compete in Pyeongchang.


NHL players have been a staple of the Winter Olympics since 1998 at -Nagano Cheap Nike Air Max Mens , with the league taking a two-week mid-season break to let the world's best players compete for Olympic gold.


Their absence would be a major blow to the prestige of the Games.


Calling the practice “at odds with modern day societal norms,” Formula 1 on Wednesday announced it no longer would employ “grid girls,” models who perform various promotional duties during races.


“Over the last year, we have looked at a number of areas which we felt needed updating so as to be more in tune with our vision for this great sport,” Sean Bratches Cheap Nike Air Max Online , Formula 1’s managing director for commercial operations, said in a statement on the circuit’s website. “While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula 1 Grands Prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modern day societal norms. We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world.”


The decision did not sit well with some grid girls Cheap Nike Air Max Free Shipping , who railed against what they see as an overreach of political correctness.


“Ridiculous that women who say they are ‘fighting for women’s rights’ are saying what others should and shouldn’t do, stopping us from doing a job we love and are proud to do. PC gone mad,” now-former grid girl Rebecca Cooper wrote on Twitter.




Michelle Westby, meanwhil.

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