Asian Olympic Hosts Seek Seamless Transition Between Games

(ATR) PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics leaders say their partnership will ensure the next two Winter Games are successful.

PyeongChang 2018 president Hee-beom Lee met with Beijing 2022 president Jinlong Guo on the sidelines of the World Winter Sports Expo and Forum currently underway in Beijing.

"We will not only stage a successful Olympic Games, but also use this opportunity to create a new partnership for our next generation," said Lee during his keynote address. "Collaboration and exchange will be our key in shaping this new future."

PyeongChang will host the first of three consecutive Olympics in Asia, followed by the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

"With PyeongChang 2018 as a start, three Olympics held in Korea, China, and Japan over the course of four years will draw the attention of the world to North East Asia," said Lee.

Lee and Guo were joined in their meeting by Beijing 2022 executive president Peng Liu to talk about ways to strengthen the partnership between the three host cities and methods to transfer knowledge, utilize sponsorships and competition venues as well as organizing joint projects.

The leaders of each organizing committee will meet again during the Rio 2016 debriefing being held in Tokyo at the end of November.

‘Great One’ Urges NHL Olympic Participation

National Hockey League legend Wayne Gretzky says there is no tournament like the Olympic Games.

Gretzky told Canadian media that the recently concluded World Cup of Hockey run by the NHL cannot compete with ice hockey in the Olympics. He added that while both tournaments have the world’s top players, the atmosphere of the Olympics makes it incomparable.

"I always say for me everything was great," Gretzky said. "Being in the village with all the athletes, and walking in the commissary and seeing some of the greatest athletes in the world, I was like a little kid; it was so overwhelming for me. I loved it."

Currently, NHL player participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics is in doubt as the NHL and IOC sort out who will pay out-of-pocket expenses for player travel and competition. The International Ice Hockey Federation has set a deadline of January 2017 for the issue to be resolved. NHL players have gone to every Winter Olympics since 1998 in Nagano.

"I don’t know what the answer is," Gretzky said. "Like everything else, there’s a business side to the component [and] we have to overcome that hurdle. They’ve got to figure out a way to make it happen."

Written by Kevin Nutleyand Aaron Bauer

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