Keeping the legacy alive at Gangwon 2024
A core objective of the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, held from 19 January to 1 February 2024, was to build on the legacy of PyeongChang 2018, with a particular focus on young people and local communities.
Gangwon hosted a series of youth sports camps and educational programmes ahead of the YOG, while the Organising Committee looked to deliver on its vision of bringing sport to a new generation of winter sports athletes.
The Youth Supporters Programme was launched in the spring of 2021 in an effort to engage young people in the Republic of Korea and beyond, with 30 youngsters selected to play a key role in planning and promoting Gangwon 2024 by developing digital content and communications.
The Gangwon 2024 Volunteer Programme recruited 2,000 local young people to work in athlete support, media management, sports management, event/ceremony protocol and regional guidance in the four Winter YOG competition zones: PyeongChang, Gangneung, Jeongseon and Hoengseong.
In consolidating the legacy of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games ahead of Gangwon 2024, the PyeongChang 2018 Legacy Foundation relaunched the PyeongChang 2018 educational programme, having updated it with content related to the Youth Olympic Games. In 2020 alone, around 20,000 young people travelled from across the country to PyeongChang and Gangneung to participate in Olympic values and winter sports programmes as part of the initiative.
The Gangwon 2024 venue master plan also delivered a boost to local communities, ensuring the use of seven of PyeongChang 2018’s 12 competition venues (the biathlon, ski jumping and sliding centres at Alpensia Sports Park and the Hockey Centre, Curling Centre, Oval and Ice Arena in Gangneung), encouraging participation in local youth activities and athlete education programmes, and laying the foundation for the future of sport in this part of the country.
In addition, several of the athletes who competed at Gangwon 2024 took part in PyeongChang 2018 legacy initiatives, including 39 young participants in the Dream Programme and seven bobsleighers enrolled at the New Horizons Academy.