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Starting from the left, Korean Sport and Olympic Committee President Lee Kee-heung, Gangwon Governor Choi Moon-soon, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo pose for a photo after the announcement of Gangwon Province as the host for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Jan. 10. (Yonhap News)

Gangwon Province has been decided on as the host of the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics.

At a session on the afternoon of Jan. 10 at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne, members of the International OIympic Committee (IOC) voted to select Gangwon Province to host the Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2024. It was approved by an overwhelming margin, with 79 out of 81 voting in favor. Korean Sport and Olympic Committee President Lee Kee-heung and Gangwon Governor Choi Moon-soon immediately signed a bidding agreement with the IOC.

The Gangwon event will be the first time the Winter Youth Olympics have been held outside of Europe. The first event in 2012 took place in Innsbruck, Austria, while the second in 2016 was held in Lillehammer, Norway. The third event, which started on Jan. 9 and finishes on Jan. 22 of this year, is taking place in Lausanne, Switzerland.

If the Summer Youth Olympic Games are factored in, it will be the third Youth Olympics event held on the Asian continent, after the 2010 event in Singapore and the 2014 event in Nanjing.

The official title is to be the “2024 Gangwon Province Winter Youth Olympic Games,” with the event to be held in the Pyeongchang, Gangneung, and Jeongseon areas of Gangwon between Jan. 19 and Feb. 4, 2024.

The delegation for South Korea’s bid -- consisting of Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo, Lee Kee-heung, Choi Moon-soon, and IOC Athletes’ Commission Member Ryu Seung-min – gave a bidding presentation ahead of the session in which they pledged to hold a successful event that would broaden the horizons of the Winter Youth Olympics.

Gangwon had been in competition with the Russian city of Sochi, the Bulgarian capital Sofia, and the Romanian city of Brasov for the 2024 games. After a review by the IOC Future Host Commission for winter games, Gangwon was presented before the executive board as a sole candidate, with the board approving its referral for a session vote on Jan. 8.

Citing the possibility of inter-Korean relations improving over the next four years, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and Gangwon Province also requested permission to hold the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics Games in North Korea, which the IOC recognized. Masikryong Ski Resort in North Korea’s Kangwon Province has been rated as a suitable site for Winter Youth Olympics events.

The MCST and others are scheduled to receive the event flag on Jan. 22, the last day of the third Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, and hand it off to Choi Moon-soon at Incheon International Airport of Jan. 24.

By Lee Chan-yeong, staff reporter

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