page_title: 2018 Winter Olympics
section_title: Development and preparation
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 Winter Olympics / Development and preparation
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Золотая медаль зимних Олимпийских игр 2018 в ПхёнчханеУкраїнська: Золота медаль зимових Олімпійських ігор 2018 року в Пхьончхані
context_page_description: The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as PyeongChang 2018, was an international winter multi-sport event that was held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, Gangwon Province, South Korea, with the opening rounds for certain events held on 8 February 2018, the day before the opening ceremony.
  Pyeongchang was elected as the host city in July 2011, at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa. This was the second time that South Korea had hosted the Olympic Games, having previously hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but it was the first Winter Olympics to be held in the country. These were the first of three consecutive Olympic Games to be held in East Asia, the following two set to be the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. It was the third time that an East Asian country had hosted the Winter Games, after Sapporo and Nagano, both of these cities in Japan. It was also the first Winter Olympics to be held in mainland Asia.
  The Games featured 102 events over 15 disciplines, a record number of events for the Winter Games.
context_section_description: On 5 August 2011, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the formation of the Pyeongchang 2018 Coordination Commission. On 4 October 2011, it was announced that the Organizing Committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics would be headed by Kim Jin-sun. The Pyeongchang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) was launched at its inaugural assembly on 19 October 2011. The first tasks of the organizing committee were putting together a master plan for the Games as well as forming a design for the venues. The IOC Coordination Commission for the 2018 Winter Olympics made their first visit to Pyeongchang in March 2012. By then, construction was already underway on the Olympic Village. In June 2012, construction began on a high-speed rail line that would connect Pyeongchang to Seoul.
  The International Paralympic Committee met for an orientation with the Pyeongchang 2018 organizing committee in July 2012. Then-IOC President Jacques Rogge visited Pyeongchang for the first time in February 2013.
  The Pyeongchang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games created Pyeongchang WINNERS in 2014 by recruiting university students living in South Korea to spread awareness of the Olympic Games through social networking services and news articles.
caption: 2018 Olympics gold medal
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