This sweet photo alone is worth writing this post... That's a picture of a nation celebrating, when South Korea learned today that the city of Pyeongchang had been selected as the host of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, beating out Munich and Annecy: Elation in Pyeongchang for winning 2018 Games.
That's U.S. Olympic skier (and Korean adoptee) Toby Dawson, South Korea's president Lee Myung Bak, bid chairman Yang Ho Cho, Olympic figure skating champion Yuna Kim, Korean Olympic Committee President Yong Sung Park and Director of Communications Theresa Rah at the annual general meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Durban, South Africa:
South Koreans roared with delight, danced, hugged and cried tears of joy after the town of Pyeongchang was awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics after two previous bids.After two failed bids, the third time was a charm. It'll be the first time a Korean city has staged the Winter Games and only the third time it will have been held in Asia. Time to start planning my winter vacation in 2018. Who's in? More here: IOC gets it right: Pyeongchang will host 2018 Winter Olympics.
The ecstatic scenes played out Thursday after the vote by the International Olympic Committee was announced on a giant television screen at a ski jump venue Pyeongchang plans to use in 2018.
The town of 47,000 near South Korea's east coast was the favorite to win the vote, after being narrowly defeated by Vancouver and Sochi in its two previous attempts to host a Winter Olympics.