Test Event Season Ramps Up for PyeongChang 2018 -- Monday Memo

(ATR) The PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee (POCOG) is entering crunch time as the new year begins and time to get the South Korean city ready for the Games starts to dwindle.

POCOG will kick off 2017 with its third test event to examine how its venues hold up under competition conditions. The Alpine Far East Cup and President Cup 2017 is being hosted by the International Ski Federation (FIS) in conjunction with POCOG on Jan. 16-17 at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre.

The first test event of 2017 follows the FIS Snowboard World Cup from Nov. 25-26 and the International Skating Union Short Track World Cup from Dec. 16-18. These events at the Alpensia Ski Jump and the Gangneung Ice Arena were the first of 24 test events for organizers in the lead up to the Games.

The FIS Alpine FEC and President Cup event will be the only test event in January before the bulk of the competitions in February and March. The final test event will take place from April 11-19 as the best para-ice hockey athletes compete in the Gangneung 2017 World Para Ice Hockey Championships.

Chinese President Set to Meet IOC Chief

The IOC tells Around the Rings that Chinese president Xi Jinping will meet Thomas Bach in Lausanne on Wednesday, Jan.18.

Talks will center around Beijing’s hosting of the 2022 Games and the development of winter and summer Olympic sports in China.

The most expensive Olympic-related project – a high speed rail link to connect Zhangjiakou and Beijing – may also come up for discussion.

The pair will also visit the Olympic Museum.

Visiting Switzerland to take part in the annual Davos World Economic Forum, Xi is also scheduled to hold talks with the new UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in Geneva, according to Chinese media reports.

Xi’s trip to Lausanne is a mark of how important he views sport in advancing China’s standing on the global stage.

The Chinese president topped the Around the Rings Golden 25 list of key influencers on the Olympic Movement for 2017 along with heads of state for Russia and the U.S. Xi has spoken of his intent to use sport to aid the country’s development and is working closely to further his aims with the new president of the Chinese Olympic Committee Gou Zhongwen, who also heads of the General Administration for Sport.

Beijing will become the first city to host a summer and winter Olympics. The Chinese capital beat out competition from Almaty to secure the 2022 Games in an IOC vote in August 2015.

OCI to Name Potential Hickey Replacements

A spokesperson for the Olympic Council of Ireland tells Around the Rings that eligibility checks on the contenders to become the next president of the OCI are still taking place.

The announcement of the official candidates, initially expected Jan. 13, will now take place on Tuesday.

Three candidates are expected to be unveiled – Basketball Ireland chief Bernard O'Byrne, Swim Ireland's Sarah Keane and the OCI’s acting president Willie O'Brien.

The OCI’s honorary general secretary Dermot Henihan is tipped to drop out of the race, according to Irish media reports.

The new president will be chosen by the 34 OCI members.

ATR has learned that Hickey is not expected to show up at the OCI’s election congress on Feb. 9. It means there will be little fanfare over the departure of Hickey from the organization he has run since 1989. He is said to be receiving medical attention for a heart condition and recuperating after his return from Brazil where he was embroiled in the ticketing scandal that rocked the Rio Games.

Hickey stated last year that he had no plans to run again for the OCI presidency.

Australian Open Begins

The first Grand Slam event of the 2017 tennis season begins this week in Melbourne, Australia.

Theannual Australian Open is the first of four Grand Slam tournamentsincluding the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. The Australiantournament dates back to 1905.

The tournament begins on Jan. 16as defending singles champions Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber seek toretain their trophies and begin their quests for the Grand Slam.

The105th edition of the event is organized by the International TennisFederation in conjunction with Tennis Australia.

The champions will be crowned on Jan. 29.

Italy Ready for World Para Alpine Skiing Championships

The final Winter Paralympic world championships before the next Winter Games in PyeongChang begin this week in Tarvisio, Italy.

The World Para Alpine Skiing Championships begin Sunday, Jan. 22 and features 30 medal events across the disciplines of slalom, giant slalom, super combined, super-G, and downhill sitting, standing and visually impaired.

The IPC says approximately 130 of the world’s best skiers will compete in the championships from 25 countries.

This year’s edition of the championships will also be live streamed, something the International Paralympic Committee says creates an added significance to the event.

"It is one of the most exciting sports around, with sit-skiers, standing skiers and blind skiers reaching high speeds and searching for technical perfection in their quest for gold medals," says IPC spokesperson Craig Spence.

"In 2017 the Worlds will have added significance. It will be a great indication of which athletes are on form with just over one year to go until PyeongChang 2018."

The championships kick-off with an opening ceremony on Jan. 22 while competition begins on Jan. 25. The event concludes on Jan. 31.

FIS Alpine Staple Returns toKitzbühel

The annual Hahnenkamm-Rennen races return to the International Ski Federation’s World Cup program for the 50th consecutive season.

The men’s World Cup events of downhill, super-G and slalom will be held from Jan. 17-22 in Kitzbühel, Austria.

The event is often considered one of the marquee pieces of the FIS World Cup schedule and has been organized in Austria since 1931. The Hahnenkamm event has been a fixture of the FIS World Cup since the circuit began in 1967.

Written by Kevin Nutley and Mark Bisson

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