PyeongChang 2018 Venues Put to the Test -- Monday Memo

(ATR) The test event schedule for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics is picking up speed with less than a year to go until the next edition of the Games.

This week features six test events across five venues set to be used for the Games. The busy week marks the final test events in February before action picks back up in March.

The International Ski Federation’s (FIS) Freestyle Skiing World Cup and Snowboard World Cup are already underway at the Bokwang Snow Park. The freestyle skiing event began on Feb. 10 and concludes on Feb. 18 with athletes competing in aerials, moguls and halfpipe. The Snowboard World Cup began on Sunday and draws to a close on Feb. 19.

FIS continues its test event runs with the Ski Jumping World Cup taking place on Feb. 15 and 16 at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre. The event marks the first time the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup has been contested in South Korea.

The Gangneung Ice Arena gets its first glimpse of international competition from Feb. 16-19 when athletes compete in the International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. The event features athletes from four continents excluding Europe competing in men’s and women’s singles, pairs and ice dance.

Youth curlers will test the Gangneung Curling Centre beginning Feb. 16 during the World Curling Federation World Junior Curling Championships. The longest of the six test events will conclude on Feb. 26.

The Viessmann Luge World Cup is the final test event to begin in February taking place at the Alpensia Sliding Centre. The event hosted by the International Luge Federation marks the first international luge event to be held in South Korea at the country’s only track built specifically for the Winter Games.

Alpine Championships Conclude in St. Moritz

The International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine World Ski Championships are underway in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The 44th edition of the 12-day competition began on Tuesday, Feb. 7 and features the best skiers in the world squaring off in super-G, downhill, giant slalom, slalom, super combined and the team event.

Six-hundred athletes from 70 countries are competing for the title of world champion and the medals that accompany the top-three finishers in each discipline.

The event marks the fifth time the Alpine World Championships are taking place in St. Moritz, following successful editions in 1934, 1948, 1974 and 2003. The world championships conclude on Feb. 19.

Sapporo Ready for Asian Winter Games

The eighth edition of the Asian Winter Games begins Sunday, Feb. 19 in Sapporo, Japan.

The 2017 AWG features twelve disciplines across five sports including alpine skiing, cross country skiing, ski jumping, freestyle skiing, snowboard, speed skating, short track speed skating, figure skating, biathlon, ice hockey and curling.

The event was originally scheduled to take place in 2015 before the Olympic Council of Asia chose to permanently stage the event in the year before the Winter Olympics. Sapporo and Obihiro were chosen as joint host cities for the AWG during the OCA general assembly in January 2011. The two Japanese cities submitted the only bid for the event.

The 2017 edition of the event marks the third time Sapporo has hosted the event and the fourth time for Japan.

Athletes from 45 countries within the OCA will strive for medals across the eight days of competition. The event concludes on Feb. 26.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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