FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 6th, 2018

PYEONGCHANG VENUES

The events of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games will be spread between two clusters – the PyeongChang Mountain Cluster and the Gangneung Coastal Cluster. The Gangneung Coastal Cluster is located about 40 miles northeast of PyeongChang. There will be two athlete villages used during the Games: the Alpensia Village that will house athletes competing in snow and sliding sports, while the Coastal Village will host athletes partaking in ice sports.

Sports taking place in the Coastal Cluster venues, four of which are new constructions, include curling, figure skating, short track, speed skating and ice hockey (two venues). The other sports will all take place in the Mountain Cluster.

MOUNTAIN CLUSTER

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be held in PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, which is located in the Mountain Cluster. It is being built specifically for the PyeongChang Olympics. After the Games, the 35,000-seat stadium will be reduced to 5,000-10,000 seats.

The Alpensia Resort is home to several Olympic venues, as well as the athlete village for the Mountain Cluster. The Alpensia Ski Jumping Center will host the Olympic ski jumping, the jumping portion of the Nordic combined events, as well as snowboarding’s big air competition. The venue features two jumps (K98 and K125) and can hold 8,500 spectators. Biathlon will take place at the Alpensia Biathlon Center, which can hold approximately 7,500 spectators. The Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Center will host cross-country skiing and Nordic combined. It can hold approximately 7,500 spectators.

Jeongseon Alpine Center will host the three alpine skiing disciplines during the Olympics: downhill, Super-G and super combined. The Olympics will be the first major competition held at the venue, which officially opened in 2017 and has a capacity of 6,500 spectators.

The luge, bobsled, and skeleton events will all take place at the Olympic Sliding Center, which opened in 2016, and can accommodate 7,000 spectators. The course is 2,018 meters long in honor of the Olympic year (6,620 feet). It was built specifically for the Games and is the first track of its kind constructed in South Korea, and one of only two tracks in Asia (the other is in Nagano, Japan). The track hosted test events for all three sports in early 2017.

Phoenix Snow Park will host all freestyle skiing events, in addition to eight of the 10 snowboarding events. Phoenix Snow Park originally opened in 1995 as a ski resort and now features 22 ski slopes, and can accommodate 18,000 spectators.

The Yongpyong Alpine Center will host three alpine skiing disciplines during the Olympics: slalom, giant slalom, and the team event. The capacity of the Yongpyong Alpine Center is 6,000. Yongpyong is South Korea’s first ski resort, and opened in 1975.

COASTAL CLUSTER

Figure skating and short track speed skating will take place in the Gangneung Ice Arena, which can seat about 12,000 spectators. The venue is one of six newly-built venues and includes two rinks: one competition rink and one practice rink. Because the coastal cluster is close to the Sea of Japan, the rink uses powerful dehumidification equipment to maintain ideal humidity for the ice. The venue held its first international test event with the ISU Short Track World Cup event in December 2016. After the Games, the venue will be used for local recreational purposes.

Gangneung Oval will host the Olympic speed skating competition, with the capacity to hold 8,000 spectators. It opened in 2017 and hosted an Olympic Test Event in February 2017 where athletes complimented the quickness of the ice. Mark Messer, who has managed the ice at the Olympic oval in Calgary since 1987, was chosen as the designated ice maker for the Gangneung Oval following a selection process. After the Games, the Oval is expected to serve as a training center for athletes as they prepare for the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics.

The Gangneung Curling Center will host the curling events at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. It is the only pre-existing venue in the Coastal Cluster and can seat 3,500 spectators, making it the smallest venue in the Coastal Cluster. The Gangneung Curling Center opened in 1998 as the ice hockey arena for the 1999 Asian Winter Games.

Two venues will host the Olympic hockey tournaments — Gangneung Hockey Center and Kwandong Hockey Center. The Gangneung Hockey Center, with a capacity to seat 10,000, will be the venue for the majority of the men’s hockey matches, as well as the women’s hockey medal matches. The rest of the women’s hockey games will be held at the Kwandong Hockey Center, which can accommodate 6,000 spectators.