“Dreams come true: 2018 Olympics!” reads one sign in Pyeongchang, summing up the largely optimistic mood in a small South Korean town striving to become part of Olympic history. For the third time in eight years, the people of the alpine resort 180 kilometres (110 miles) east of Seoul are awaiting the outcome of their bid to host the Winter Olympics.
Pyeongchang lost to Vancouver for the 2010 games and to Russia’s Sochi for 2014, and faces off against the German city of Munich and the French town of Annecy for the 2018 event. With the decision to be announced in the South African city of Durban around midnight Wednesday Korean time (around 1500 GMT Wednesday), townspeople and Koreans in general are on tenterhooks.
But many residents of the town, where modern hotels are clustered together on a valley floor surrounded by scenic peaks, are upbeat. “Compared to our rivals, we have made perfect preparations. I strongly believe we will win,” Kim Myong-Hwan, a 38-year-old gas station worker, told AFP.