24 Mar 2023 – With only 300 days to go to the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Gangwon 2024, the local Organising Committee (YOGOC) and its new Co-Presidents have marked the milestone by appointing five new Ambassadors at a celebration event in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The celebrations will also see the launch of new mascot sports poses, showing Moongcho taking part in all the sports on the Gangwon 2024 programme.

Five new Ambassadors appointed 

At the celebration in Seoul, five new Gangwon 2024 Ambassadors, from the worlds of sport and culture, were introduced to the audience. They will all play a key role in promoting Gangwon 2024 until Games time. One of them is Choi Min-jeong, an Olympic gold medallist in short-track speed skating. She claimed the top spot on the podium in the women’s 1500m short-track event at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, in the very same arena where the young athletes will compete during Gangwon 2024. At the 300-days-to-go event, Choi said: “My advice for young athletes is to believe in the preparation you have done and continue to carry on as you have been doing. By doing so, you will be able to overcome the pressure and perform well.”

Also present at the event was PyeongChang 2018 Olympic skeleton gold medallist Yun Sung-bin, who said: “I have fond memories from PyeongChang 2018. I was incredibly happy and honoured to have been part of it and to have ended it with such good result. Those memories are still vivid in my mind, and I believe they will remain as some of the best ones in my life.” He continued: “Having experienced the Olympic Games on home soil, I hope that as an Ambassador, I can share my story and help young athletes understand what it’s like.”

The other three Ambassadors, who have also demonstrated outstanding performance in the fields of arts and sports, have been appointed to complete the line-up. They include Korean prima ballerina, Kim Joo-won, who led the “Dance Team of Dreams” and supported youth growth through culture and arts; Korean snowboard commentator and actor Park Jae-min, an expert in winter sports who went viral with his enthusiastic commentary during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022’s snowboard events; and Korean classical pianist and gold medallist at the van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Sunwoo Yekwon, who also served as the Artistic Director of “Korean Young Pianist,” assisting young performers.

Co-Presidents make their public debut

The 300 days-to-go event provided the perfect opportunity for the new Gangwon 2024 Co-Presidents to make their first global public appearance in connection with the Games. Multiple Olympic gold medallist Lee Sang-hwa and Jin Jong-oh were appointed as Co-Presidents of the Gangwon 2024 YOGOC at the Organising Committee’s 21st General Committee meeting in February.

Lee said: “The Winter Youth Olympic Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I hope it serves as a platform for young athletes to experience joy and growth, as well as an opportunity to learn sportsmanship and Olympism.” Jin added: “The young people are the stars of Gangwon 2024, and I look forward to seeing how the Ambassadors will use their role to make the Youth Olympic Games a stage for the youth to shine and grow.”

Mascot sport poses

The sports poses that show mascot Moongcho playfully taking part in all of the 15 Winter Youth Olympic sports will be unveiled tomorrow, 25 March, on the 300-days-to-go milestone. Mascot Moongcho represents a snowball, born out of a snowball fight between Soohorang and Bandabi, the mascots of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. Moongcho’s name is derived from the Korean word “Moongchida”, which means to bring together various thoughts and powers.

The Winter YOG Gangwon 2024 will be held between 19 January and 1 February 2024, and will benefit from the legacy of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 by using some of the same facilities. Some 1,900 athletes from around 81 National Olympic Committees are expected to take part. The previous Winter YOG took place in January 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland.