PyeongChang Villages Ready for Arrivals

(ATR) Athletes going to PyeongChang to compete will have a bed ready and waiting for them.

PyeongChang 2018 organizers say both Olympic Villages have been completed and await athlete and official arrivals. The main village is located in the Alpensia mountain cluster, while a second village in use for the Olympic Games will be located in Gangneung.

The alpine village will house nearly 4,000 athletes and officials during the 2018 Olympics. Apartments will then be retrofitted for accessibility for the Paralympics and house about 2,300 personnel. The Gangneung Village was built to accommodate 2,900 people.

"The villages will serve as a place where athletes and officials can relax and connect with athletes from other nations, creating memories and friendships that will last a lifetime," Hee Beom Lee, PyeongChang 2018 President, said in a statement.

Construction of "overlay and of the temporary tents" is all that remains to prepare the Village for the Olympics and Paralympics.

After the Paralympics the units will then be fitted into apartments, all of which have been sold. The alpine village apartments sold out in May 2017, and all units in the Gangneung village sold last month.

Village preparations in South Korea remain in stark contrast to the Rio 2016 Olympic Village. Some teams refused to move in when the complex opened citing safety concerns and more than a year after the Rio Paralympics, less than 10 percent of the apartments have been sold.

During the Winter Games in Korea the complexes will offer a "bank, post office, general store, laundry service, fitness center, recreational center, a beauty salon and a multi-faith center," according to a PyeongChang 2018 release. Athletes will be able to eat 24 hours a day at the village dining center.

Athletes will begin moving into the complex around the end of January through the beginning of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Each delegation will get a "welcome ceremony" upon arrival, and PyeongChang will stage numerous "cultural events" during the Games.

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Written by Aaron Bauer

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