Arup, which was appointed to serve as the lead adviser of the 2020 Games earlier this month, will work alongside AECOM to contribute towards strategy for the overall delivery of venue design and construction.

AECOM will also review the Games’ master plan and advise on the associated transportation, security, sustainability and legacy components. It will be the global company’s third consecutive Olympics after it was also responsible for the London 2012 and bid-winning Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games master plans.

“Olympic Games are an important part of AECOM’s success in regenerating and promoting cities around the world,” Michael S. Burke, AECOM president and chief executive, said. “By harnessing our global expertise as the world’s premier fully integrated infrastructure firm, AECOM will be able to support the Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee in delivering a memorable Olympic Games.”

Part of AECOM’s presence around the Games preparations will be to hold a number of workshops in Tokyo focused on the delivery of the Games and its subsequent legacy.

Meanwhile, the Korean government has confirmed that the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2018 winter Olympics in PyeongChang will take place in the city.

The decision backtracks on a proposal to renovate an existing sports centre in Gangneung to host the ceremonies in order to rein in costs. A purpose-built facility will now hold the events in PyeongChang.

The Gangneung plans had proved deeply controversial and a protest group said in a statement on Monday: “If the government goes through with the plan to move the opening and closing ceremonies outside PyeongChang, we will stage a boycott of the Olympics. If they were moved to Gangneung, it should be called Gangneung Olympics. It is outrageous for the government to be even considering such a move with only just under four years left until the Games.”

Host City: 2018 has been a big year for Aggreko powering major events, starting with the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang – what were the biggest challenges there?

David de Behr: As with any winter event we do, the weather conditions are always the biggest challenge – and with the magnitude of the Olympics, the volume of equipment, processes and people needed to execute promptly are key.

We faced extreme cold temperatures and winds while building up the temporary power services requested to run the Games smoothly in PyeongChang – and this required a lot of endurance from our equipment and a lot of energy from our specialist engineers.

We adapted to meet these challenges head on. We modified all our fuel tanks by adding heat elements, generators were equipped to run in the cold climate and the project team had to plan all operations very tightly to meet the client deadlines.

The endurance level of our people deserves to be recognised; they never lost sight of the objective and their dedication in the face of some incredible obstacles was key to our success.

Host City: Your next project in 2018 was the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast – how did this compare as a project for Aggreko?

David de Behr: The Gold Coast Games were special as they were not located within one city but held in a region. Australia has always been very special to Aggreko as it is one of our oldest markets and so it was fantastic to see the synergy between Aggreko Australia and our experienced Major Events team putting together this project.

We worked with a very experienced organising committee (GOLDOC), which had a very clear view on how they wanted to deliver the Games, and the partnership with our experienced project team meant we had a very fluent build up towards the Games.

Using our design program to give financial transparency throughout the contract was appreciated by the organising committee and the rest is history: great Games in a beautiful region with enthusiastic engagement from the public – a job well done!

Host City: The European Championships in Glasgow was a new format of event, combining multiple sports – what were your perceptions of this and how did Aggreko contribute to its success?

David de Behr: Glasgow is and always will be special to Aggreko – our roots and our manufacturing plant are located in Glasgow.

This new format of event coming to our town, and being able to harness a lot of the infrastructure from the 2014 Commonwealth Games, made it a perfect match for us.

We were very impressed by the enthusiasm around the Championships and strongly believe it will grow as an event in the future.

For our teams on the ground it was a pleasant return to the venues we powered in 2014. Working very closely with the organising committee, we were able to tailor and deliver the event within everyone’s expectations.

Host City: After all those multi-sports projects, you also powered the Ryder Cup in France – what are the requirements there?

David de Behr: The difference with the other 2018 events is that the Ryder Cup is a massive single venue event.

It forms part of our long-term relationship with the European Tour. The exciting part this time, unlike our previous involvement with Ryder Cups, was that the 2018 incarnation was held outside of the UK, near Paris.

150 lorries packed full of equipment were delivered to install all temporary power and HVAC systems on the massive site. It was project managed by an English-French Aggreko project team with the first members of our team on the ground in May.

The beauty of such golf tournaments is also the main challenge – the players and public can walk almost everywhere – and so planning and design are key to the success of the event for us.

Another challenge is the seasonal weather – the climate could be very unpredictable and so we had to prepare for all temperature control eventualities. Our temperature control systems are designed to be able to cope with this changing environment.

The outcome was really impressive and the Ryder Cup week was one that many will not forget for a long time!

David de Behr is speaking at Host City 2018 on the topic of “Reimagining Major Event Delivery”. Host City 2018 takes place in Glasgow on 20-21 November

At the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, the presidents of the organising committee and the International Olympic Committee joined in presenting Korea’s first Winter Games as bringer of peace.

Following the procession of athletes that culminated with the combined teams of Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Lee Hee-Beom, president of the PyeongChang Olympic Committee of the Olympic Games (POCOG) said the event “ushers in the Olympics Asia era”, pointing to the upcoming 2020 and 2022 Games in Tokyo and Beijing.

“Now we are facing the historic moments in our lifetime,” he said.

“Sport has a great power to unite people.

“PyeongChang will provide a light of hope for all citizens yearning for peace.”

He described the 2018 Games as “a festival of peace and harmony”, reminding athletes that it is “not the winning but the taking part; not the triumph but the struggle”.

IOC President Thomas Bach addressed the athletes by saying “You will inspire us all to live together in peace and harmony… You can only enjoy your Olympic performance if you respect the rules and stay clean.

“While you compete with each other, you live peacefully together in the Olympic village. In sport we are all equal.

“A great example of this unifying power is the joint march of the two teams of the republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We all join and support you in your message of peace.”

“United in our diversity we are stronger than all the forces that want to divide us.

“Two years ago in Rio with the first Refugee Olympic Team, the IOC sent a powerful message of hope.

“Now we send a powerful message of peace to the world.”

The speeches were followed by a rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine featuring traditional Korean folk instruments.

[Source: IOC] As the next hosts of the Olympic Games, the organising committees for PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 each featured celebrations of art, culture and sport for thousands of people on Olympic day.

PyeongChang 2018

With less than eight months to go until the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the Korean organisers seized on Olympic Day as an opportunity to spread the Olympic values far and near.

In Gangneung, the PyeongChang 2018 House featured a mascot photo zone, colouring projects and an Olympic torch exhibition. The festivities spilled over into Saturday, with opportunities for children to craft their own clay mascots, while families also tested their Olympic knowledge with interactive quizzes.

On the other side of the country in Seoul, students from Seoul University formed 70 dance teams at the Seoul Olympic Park and Lotte World Mall to create flash mobs that also featured Soohorang, PyeongChang’s mascot for next February’s Olympic Winter Games.

Tokyo 2020

While PyeongChang got creative on Olympic Day, Tokyo combined art with action, as students from 12 universities across the city came together for a day of music, dance and cheerleading performances. After watching dynamic routines, members of the audience voted for winners that they felt had achieved their “personal best”, which is one of the mottos of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Almost 1,000 students, in association with Tokyo 2020, co-organised the event. With students engaged in the planning and promotion of the festival, the celebration reflected both sport and Japan’s famous youth culture, providing a glimpse of what the world will get to enjoy as part of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Beijing 2022

More than 20,000 Chinese people from nine provinces took part in Olympic Day celebrations. The cities jointly launched a variety of activities that promoted the Olympic spirit, including a road race with nearly 2,000 athletes at the National Olympic Sports Centre. Beijing 2022 also organised “Olympic culture camps”, which allowed participants to practise both summer and winter Olympic sports.

Source: www.olympic.org

Ask any elite athlete what it takes to win an Olympic title and you will probably hear an answer including words such “hard work”, “lots of training” and “perseverance”.

Well, the same thing can be said for any city or country bidding to host a summer or winter Olympic Games. 

After missing out on both the 2010 and 2014 events, the Korean county of PyeongChang finally won the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games when it secured 63 votes compared to Munich (Germany) 25 votes and Annecy (France) seven votes in the 2011 IOC election.

In both the 2010 and 2014 bids, PyeongChang actually won the first stage of voting but lost out in the final rounds to Vancouver and Sochi by three and four votes respectively.

Losing once may be tough, losing twice may be soul destroying, but the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee were not going to give up on its Olympic dream easily. So once PyeongChang finally secured the bidding rights the organising committee was going to make sure that the “third time is a charm” – especially for its long-term sporting and social legacy plans.

A major test for Korea

Thirty years since the capital city Seoul held the Summer Olympic Games of 1988, Korea is preparing to welcome back the Olympic movement in February.

PyeongChang 2018 will see 102 events in 15 sport disciplines taking place at various locations, including six new venues purposely built for the winter games.

In order to be ready for 2018, a rigorous testing schedule under the “Hello PyeongChang” banner has seen the delivery of 25 test events (20 Olympic and five Paralympic) since February 2016 with thousands of athletes competing at 12 competition venues.

Speaking to Host City, Hee-beom Lee, the president and CEO of the PyeongChang Organising Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG), explained the importance of learning from the test events.

He said: “Overall the hardware [venues and infrastructure] and software [operational know-how, sponsorship and promotion] preparations are progressing as the POCOG team, Gangwon Province and the Central Government continue to work closely together.

“The average completion rate for six of our new competition venues is 97%. For our non-competition venues, construction is also well underway and we expect them to be completed by September 2017.

“Even with the end of the test events, our team will still use opportunities from milestone events and other activities to further fine-tune the Games preparations to ensure we can deliver the best Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018.”

Thirty years after Seoul 1988 put Korea on the global sporting map, PyeongChang 2018 has the potential to do the same again for winter sports. Lee added: “We saw the impact of the Summer Games back in 1988 on Korea and the perception of Korea by the outside world and we know that 30 years on the Winter Games can do the same for the country.”

Progress and legacy of the venues

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games will see events held in two main clusters in the Gangwon-do province – the PyeongChang Mountain and Gangneung Coastal clusters.

Located in the north-east of the country, the mountainous Gangwon-do province has multiple ski resorts and national parks. A key factor to the hosting bid was that all PyeongChang 2018 competition venues are within 30 minutes’ driving distance from the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium.

POCOG’s president Lee said: “Out of the six brand-new competition facilities, four have been completed and two are still on-going. As for the non-competition venues, they are well on track for completion.”

In the long-term, the 2018 venues will have a lasting legacy for Korea’s elite level sportsmen and woman and also its residents. “We have developed a post-Games venue legacy plan to keep the Olympic spirit alive,” said Lee. “The venues for PyeongChang 2018 have been designed as much around what happens after the Games as during it. These world-class facilities will serve communities and athletes for years to come.

“Many of the competition venues will continue to be used by athletes from Korea and all around Asia. The Sliding Centre [will be used] by the Korea National Sports University, Gangneung Hockey Centre by the new Daemyung ice hockey team and Alpensia Sports Park for Nordic skiing.

“Other venues will be open to the public and benefit the local residents. Ice arena as a multi-use sport-for-all facility and the Kwandong Hockey Centre used by the university.”

Accessibility is key

While the sporting venues are either complete or in the final stages of construction, there’s also much work being done to make sure athletes, officials and visitors can easily access the games.

Transport links between Seoul and the games clusters have had huge upgrades and improvements as part of PyeongChang 2018’s long-term legacy plan. New motorways and high-speed railway are among the major projects.

“Looking at transport, the constructions of the high-speed railway, expressways and the road networks are on schedule,” said Lee. “The 2nd Yeongdong Express Highways was completed last year. We have seen great improvements in the traffic flow from Seoul to PyeongChang as congestions have been reduced. There is also an increase in traffic with more people driving into PyeongChang.

“The high-speed railway will be completed in June this year and it will undergo thorough testing throughout the rest of the year. Once completed, people can travel easily from Incheon Airport to PyeongChang and Gangneung in just 98 minutes and 113 minutes respectively.

“This is great news for those travelling from Seoul who can now reach PyeongChang with ease and at a much shorter time – around 70 minutes via train and within two hours by car. The transport system will make the Games very accessible to many people.”

Transportation within the venue clusters is also high on the agenda for POCOG and the host locations. The transportation system in host cities comprises of two categories – the one provided by POCOG, and the other provided by host cities. 

The POCOG transportation system for spectators includes a total of three transport malls (Jinbu and Hoenggye Mall in the Mountain Cluster and North Gangneung Mall in the Coastal Cluster) and 10 parking lots with a total 11,170-car capacity.

Dedicated free shuttle buses will be also provided to the public from the transport malls in the mountain and coastal clusters to the various Olympic venues.

Sporting legacy

The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games marks the start of a memorable six years for Asian sport as the first of three Olympic events scheduled for the region, with Tokyo 2020 and then Beijing 2022 taking over the baton.

But while the 2018 games will again put Korea in the spotlight, the event is as much for Asia as it is for the republic.

“We have realised our dream by being given the honour of hosting the 2018 Games and we are now working hard to bring that dream to life,” said Lee. “We want to create many more life-changing experiences and open up new horizons for everyone that will be touched by the Games.”

Grassroots sport is one sector that POCOG and the local authorities have focused on since winning the bid. Schools have been engaged by the POCOG education department to create lesson plans and multi-media materials for teachers to deliver to students so they are given the opportunity to take part in the Olympic movement by participating in competitions and try out different sports. This education programme will grow in the months leading up to the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Another initiative launched by POCOG is its ‘Dream Programme’, which began in 2004. POCOG’s aim with the programme is to promote winter sports at grassroots level but on an international scale.

Lee said: “The aim of this programme is to offer young people from countries that lack the natural environment for winter sports, the opportunity to experience winter sports and advance the Olympic and Paralympic movement worldwide.

“A total of more than 1,500 people from 83 countries have participate in this programme by this year. We want to engage the younger generation and get more of them involved and excited by winter sports.”

Long-term tourism

With sporting and social legacy plans now in place one of the major industries that is looking to capitalise on the 2018 Winter Olympics is Korea’s tourism sector.

From the upgrades in venues and facilities to the new transport links, POCOG is working with government departments such as the Korea Tourism Organization to promote the country as a winter sports destination – not just in the run-up to next year, but also in the years after the event is held.

Lee said: “With the ‘New Horizons’ vision, we aim to develop winter sports and relevant industries in Asia, leaving a lasting legacy in the host region by transforming PyeongChang and Gangwon Province into an Asian winter sports hub and year-round tourist destination. This is part of the sporting legacy of POCOG 2018.

“The Gangwon province has the potential to go from a small region in Korea into a hub of winter sports. Its proximity to Seoul is a really strong selling point making the slopes and snow more accessible for everyone, especially with the new transport links that are currently being developed.”

Seunghyun Hwang, director of the Korea Tourism Organization in London, agreed that PyeongChang and the Gangwon-do province have the potential to be a winter sports hub. But Korea can also, according to Hwang, play a huge part in the run-up to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“North Asia is quite lucky that in the two years after PC2018 there will be the Tokyo summer Olympics and then Beijing 2022, which gives our region a huge opportunity to solidify North Asia as a winter and summer sporting hub,” said Hwang. “The 12 venues and the Gangwondo province as a whole will become ideal training camps for athletes ahead of 2022. Asia is likely to see a major winter sport increase over the coming years with both 2018 and 2022 putting spotlight on region.

“The fact that Korea tried to get the Winter Olympics in 2010, 2014 and was successful for 2018 means there has been much time to create such things as a ‘ski school’ to encourage the best young Asian ski athletes from across South East Asia to get involved in elite [and amateur] and encourage a new generation to these type of sports.”

The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games organising committee is working to enhance and develop accommodation after concerns were raised over a shortage of rooms.

At February's PyeongChang 2018 Chef de Mission Seminar, it was reported that while construction and planning for the Games venues were impressive, accommodation and transport links were an issue.

Because of a potential lack of rooms in the mountain and coastal clusters, spectators may be forced to book accommodation outside of the Olympic areas. Some may even have to travel from the capital city Seoul, which is more than an hour away by high-speed rail and more than two hours away via the expressway.  

At a PyeongChang 2018 roadshow organised by the Korea Tourism Organization in London, officials were asked what is being done to allay the fears of a shortage in rooms. Hyung Koo Yeo, secretary general of the PyeongChang Organising Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG), told media that adjustments were being made for accommodation.

He said: "Regarding the client groups there are 21,000 rooms accredited by the IOC. The accommodation development plan is in progress regarding the contracts with various stakeholders and there are some changes such as cancellations, some additional reservations. We are in the process where we adjust these type of things.

"Regarding the spectators the host cities are preparing for this. We are in the process where we enhance and develop the quality and environment of these accommodations."

During the 2018 Winter Olympic Games 12 competition venues will be used, with six new venues purpose-built for the event. Four of the six venues – Gangneung Oval, Gangneung Ice Arena, Gangneung Hockey Centre and the Kwandong Hockey Centre – are 100% complete. The Jeongseon Alpine Centre and Alpensia Sliding Centre are 86.7% and 94.15% completed respectively.  

According to POCOG overall construction progress of venues is at 96.8% as of April 17.
 

Temporary power provider Aggreko has been awarded the contract to deliver electricity to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang.

The deal is valued at approximately US$40m and Aggreko will also have sponsorship of the Games.

The company will generate electricity for all 15 competition venues in the mountainous resort county of PyeongChang.

Aggreko will also power three competition venues in the coastal city of Gangneung, where figure skating, curling, ice hockey, speed and short-track skating events will take place.

The International Broadcast Centre in PyeongChang will also be powered by Aggreko.

"I am delighted that Aggreko has been appointed the official power provider for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018,” said Chris Weston, chief executive officer of Aggreko.

“We look forward to helping the organising committee deliver another successful Games."

A major part of the company’s business is providing power and temperature control solutions for sports events, such as the Olympic Games, cricket, football and rugby world cups, Pan American/Parapan American Games, PGA Tour, Tour de France, Ryder Cup,Red Bull Air Race and Formula One.

In August 2016 Aggreko announced that it had won the contract to provide power for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, having powered the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where the company has its headquarters.

Aggreko also has a long track record of providing power to entertainment shows, such as I’m a Celebrity, Cirque du Soleil and music festivals including Glastonbury, as well as high profile events like the US Presidential Inauguration.

[Source: IOC] The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Coordination Commission for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 wrapped up its seventh visit well pleased with the progress of venue construction.

The Commission, led by IOC member Gunilla Lindberg, assessed every aspect of Games preparations during three days of venue visits and collaborative discussions with the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee.

The Games organisers reported that, on average, the new venues in PyeongChang and nearby Gangneung are 90 per cent complete in advance of 26 test events scheduled between this November and April 2017. PyeongChang will host the mountain events; Gangneung will host the ice sports.

“We saw first hand the progress of the construction projects,” Chair Lindberg said at a closing news conference with PyeongChang 2018 President Hee-beom Lee on Friday. “There is no doubt that the venues will be ready for the upcoming test events.”

President Lee also expressed satisfaction with the visit, calling it “a productive three days”.

He added: “With the Rio Games now behind us, it is time for PyeongChang. Based on thorough preparation, we will strive to provide the best of service to all participants and realise our goal of making the PyeongChang 2018 Games Cultural Olympics, Environmental Olympics, Olympics for Peace and Economic Olympics, and pleasantly surprise the world with our performance.”

President Lee also announced that PyeongChang 2018 will launch ticket sales in conjunction with the one-year-to-go milestone celebration in February 2017.

Representatives from all seven winter International Federations (IFs) joined the discussions in PyeongChang, which focused on 10 areas: test events, sport, venues, legacy, Games services, full stadiums, finance, accessibility, governance, and communications and engagement. The Commission and POCOG held two plenary sessions and a series of side meetings devoted to specific topics, such as athletes and National Olympic Committees; sport and IFs; and spectators.

The IFs were particularly focused on preparations for test events involving their sports. The first test event, scheduled for 23-26 November, will be the FIS Snowboard Big Air World Cup. Snowboard Big Air will make its Olympic debut at PyeongChang 2018.

“PyeongChang 2018 is entering the last stages of preparations,” Chair Lindberg said in her closing remarks. “My colleagues and I leave here more confident than ever that PyeongChang 2018 will deliver great Games.”

Source: IOC