Gangwon wakes up to another Winter Olympics

The 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics are set to begin in January. Thousands of youth athletes are set to arrive for the tournament, the first-ever to be held in Asia.

Gangneung Oval [PAIK JI-HWAN]

GANGNEUNG, Gangwon — The mountains of Gangwon are beginning to wake up again. It's as if the hilltops, blanketed with fresh powder, and the frost hanging on to every building were aware that they'd be getting thousands of visitors after the new year.

The snowy province, once hosts to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, will soon welcome a new cohort of medal hopefuls — except this time much younger — as the 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympics roll around next month.

A month before the opening ceremony, the Gangwon Youth Olympic organizing committee held a two-day media FAM tour from Tuesday through Wednesday to introduce reporters to some of the venues as organizers iced rinks and installed sheets ahead of the tournament.

Seven of the nine venues set to be used in the Youth Olympics were also used in 2018, including Gangneung Curling Centre, Gangneung Oval and Gangneung Hockey Centre. They all seemed to be in solid condition, as most of them opened in 2016 or 2017, and others were renovated shortly before the 2018 Games.

Even the air in Gangwon felt ready. Thick layers of snow were visible throughout the mountains and at the venues along this reporter's walk in the winter wonderland.

A lively ambiance enveloped Gangneung Curling Centre in Gangneung, Gangwon. It was packed with teenagers from across the country taking part in a curling program, run by the city of Gangneung in an effort to constantly utilize the facility.

Gangneung Curling Centre manager Choi Ye-eun, right, explains about the facility during a media FAM tour in Gangneung, Gangwon on Tuesday. [PAIK JI-HWAN]

The teenagers slid stones across the ice sheets in the same place where five years ago, Korea’s Team Kim — Kim Eun-jung, Kim Yeong-mi, Kim Seon-yeong, Kim Kyeong-ae and Kim Cho-hi — won a silver medal in curling at the 2018 Olympics.

Youth curlers Jang Yu-bin and Lee So-won and are looking to recreate their seniors' 2018 glory in 2024.

Curler Jang Yu-bin, left, trains with Lee So-won at Gangnueng Curling Centre in Gangnueng, Gangwon on Tuesday. [GANGWON YOUTH OLYMPICS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

“Since our senior players won the valuable silver medal here in Gangneung, we will also work to win a gold here at the same curling center,” Jang said at Gangneung Curling Centre on Tuesday after a short practice with Lee.

Lee is also keen to prove herself on the international stage with the Taeguk mark on.

“Since it is an international tournament, I will put a lot of efforts,” Lee said. “Grow together, shine forever,” Lee said the Gangwon Youth Olympics slogan with Jang.

Remnants of the 2018 Olympics were visible around the curling center. A “PyeongChang 2018” loomed over the seats on the wall of the arena. But “Gangwon 2024” is soon to take its place as the curling center gets a refresh during the tournament prep period set to run from Dec. 26 to Jan. 18.

Gangneung Oval, the speed skating venue, did not yet have its ice sheets installed, but other facilities inside the venue all seemed ready to invite young skaters from around the world.

Gangneung Oval is set to have ice sheets installed ahead of the 2024 Gangwon Youth Olmypics [PAIK JI-HWAN]

The locker rooms and various exercise equipment at the venue were in good condition, as well as the “Gangwon 2024” banner already installed on the wall.

Gangneung Oval will have its ice sheets installed from Jan. 2 to Jan. 12 and hold the opening ceremony of the Youth Olympics on Jan. 19 alongside Yongpyong Dome in Pyeongchang, Gangwon.

Gangneung Hockey Centre, meanwhile, already had its rink ready, for two kinds of games each demanding a different kind of ice.

The Youth Games will run two kinds of hockey: 3-on-3 and six-team. The 3-on-3 format is where only three players, minus a goaltender, play for each team, whereas six-team hockey is the typical six-player-per-team.

Each format requires a different thickness in the ice — 6 centimeters (2.3 inches) for the 3-on-3 format and 4 centimeters for the six-team format. The 3-on-3 format that requires a thicker ice sheet will be played first from Jan. 20 through Jan. 25 and the six-team games will take place from Jan. 27 to Jan. 31. An official in charge of facility management said the center will quickly cut the ice to accommodate six-team games.

Over in Pyeongchang, the locale for a handful of outdoor events, the scenery was even more spectacular.

Under a clear blue sky, the snow glistened on the hills at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre. Those mountains will see ski jumping and Nordic combined — a sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and the jumping kind.

Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre [PAIK JI-HWAN]

The view at the top of the hills was also breathtaking — a sight that would make anyone tremble, if not in fear, in awe.

A total of 1,900 athletes from 70 countries are expected to compete in the Games, with 81 medals on the line across 15 different events from Jan. 19 through Feb. 1 next year.

In addition to Gangneung and Pyeonchang, Jeongseon County and Hoengseong County in Gangwon will also play host to the Youth Olympics.

The closing ceremony will take place at Gangneung Olympic Park in Gangneung.

With the Gangwon Youth Olympics, Korea will become the first-ever Asian country to host the Winter Youth Games. The past three tournaments were all held in Europe — first in Austria in 2012, Norway in 2016 and Switzerland in 2020.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]