Gangwon 2024 | IOC President Thomas Bach celebrates fourth Winter Youth Olympic Games: "We are building a new legacy"
The IOC President and 1976 Olympic champion visited the Athletes Village in Gangneung as he returned to the region that hosted the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Gangwon 2024 are set to build “a new legacy” for “the next generation of athletes.”
The IOC chief and 1976 Olympic champion in fencing praised the facilities of the Youth Athletes Village in Gangneung, Republic of Korea, during a visit on Wednesday (17 January): “I'm really very, very impressed by the quality of the accommodation and what I am hearing from the athletes, they are all very happy,” he told reporters including Olympics.com.
With two days to go before the Opening Ceremony, Bach added that all is set for a “successful Games” (19 Jan – 1 Feb): “For the athletes, I think it's a wonderful experience to compete in the venues their idols have been competing in just six years ago and whom they are following. These young athletes [are] carrying this legacy on towards the next generation of athletes. So it's a true success story," he concluded.
Bach praises facilities of Youth Olympic Village
“It's great to be back in the region here after six years, after the highly successful Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 and to see the legacy of these Games,” commented the IOC President.
Accompanied by the Chair of the Coordination Commission and 2014 Olympic speed skating champion, Hong Zhang (People’s Republic of China), Bach met the first group of young athletes in the gym of the Haeram Sport Complex, part of the Gangneung Wonju National University.
To welcome him, Athlete Role Models Won Yun-Jong, a three-time Olympian in bobsleigh from South Korea, Jackie Narracott, the Beijing 2022 silver medallist in skeleton from Australia, and the Gangwon 2024 Organising Committee President Choi Jong-gu.
The IOC chief then continued his tour inside the Village, where he stopped to take pictures with mascot Moongcho and the volunteers, before visiting the Main Resident Centre and the Dining Hall:
“What for athletes is the most important is good sleep and good food and they all confirmed that their rooms are excellent, that the beds are excellent and that they're enjoying the food very much so that there is enough variety,” Bach revealed.
Youth Olympic Games are "a great stepping stone"
Gangwon 2024 is the fourth edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games, an event that – according to Bach – has represented in the past “a great stepping stone to success in the Olympic Games” and serves as evidence of “the ever-growing popularity of winter sports in Asia.”
The IOC president wrapped up his remarks by sharing his expectations for the upcoming Games, expressing his wish for the athletes to enjoy “this first-ever experience of a multi-sport Olympic event and to make friends by living the Olympic values.”
Asked if he wanted to convey a message with the young athletes, he said: “Enjoy this experience of Winter Youth Olympic Games, that for young athletes is a unique experience.”
Asia’s first Winter Youth Olympic Games will kick off on Friday 19 January, with the Opening Ceremony taking place simultaneously at the Gangneung Oval and PyeongChang Dome.
IOC President visits the Youth Olympic Village in Gangneung ahead of Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024