PyeongChang, a South Korean alpine town bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics, made a presentation Thursday in front of members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and world sports leaders at an international sports meeting in London.

PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, held its presentation after its rivals ― Germany’s Munich and France’s Annecy ― at the ongoing SportAccord Convention in London, a gathering of leaders of international sports federations.

PyeongChang last month held a similar presentation for an international audience during the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Congress in Seoul.

PyeongChang bidders, led by chairman Cho Yang-ho, again stressed that PyeongChang has four ambitions to be achieved through the 2018 Winter Olympic Games under its vision called “New Horizons.”

They said PyeongChang will create a new market for winter sports, host an athlete-friendly Olympics, organize a successful Winter Games based on its experience in hosting major events and build a modern and sustainable winter sports hub on the continent.

They also said its athlete-friendly Winter Olympics plan will be the key point in its efforts to bring home the event for the first time.

PyeongChang intends to host “the most athlete-focused” Winter Games, with a compact plan that all arenas will be accessible within 30 minutes of one another across two main clusters that would share snow, sliding and ice sports.

Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na was originally set to give the presentation but missed it as the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships were rescheduled for April 24 in Russia.

PyeongChang, along with the two other candidate cities, will have another chance to give a presentation to IOC members at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, in May, before the host country is chosen at the IOC General Assembly in Durban, South Africa, on July 6. 

(Yonhap News)