Seems like the environmentalists in South Korea have won their battle over the ski area built for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.
The Korean government has stated that the facilities and downhill course constructed for the games in 2018 will be dismantled and reforested. Jeongseon Alpine Centre hosted Alpine combined, downhill, and Super-G events in 2018.
The move comes after environmentalists and other groups in South Korea opposed constructing the course because of the area’s rich history. The forest cleared for the games used to be a forbidden area to citizens to preserve the wild ginseng to give to the king. That didn’t matter to the IOC who said that Mount Gariwang was the only suitable location for the events.
Just another story about how the Olympics puts cities, countries, and even regions under immense pressure to build world-class facilities that only get used for two weeks and end up causing more harm than good. Such a shame that this same situation keeps repeating for both summer and winter games.
I can’t be the only one who would be totally fine if the Olympics were held in the same location every four years, right? I feel like that would save butt-loads of money and just be an all-around more enjoyable experience than the current model, but maybe that’s just me.