Where Is The Next Winter Olympics? Facts About The 2018 Games

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics came to an end with the closing ceremony on Sunday. No country was as successful as Russia, as the host nation led the way with 13 gold medals and 33 total top three finishes.

With this year’s event over, it’s never too early to look at the next Games. The 2018 Winter Olympics are set to take place in South Korea. Pyeongchang will be the host city, becoming the second Asian city to do so. The Winter Olympics were held in Japan in 1972 and 1998. In 1988, South Korea was home to the Summer Olympics. It’s the eighth country to host both the Winter and Summer Games.

Pyeongchang won the bid on July 6, 2011. The city was selected by the International Olympic Committee over Munich, Germany and Annecy, France. Of the 95 votes cast, Pyeongchang was the overwhelming winner with 63. Munich received 25 votes, and Annecy got just seven. Pyeongchang’s bid came after losing out to Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.

Feb. 9, 2018 marks day of the Opening Ceremony, and the Games are scheduled to officially end on Feb. 25, 2018. Competition will start Saturday Feb. 10 with luge, ice hockey and speed skating, among other sports. Eighty-eight gold medals are currently scheduled to be awarded.

The cost of the 2018 Games are not expected to come close to the Olympics in Sochi. Over $50 billion was reportedly spent by Russia for the two and a half week event. The large price tag was due to the fact that most of the buildings did not exist before the country won the bid for the 2014 Olympics. Pyeongchang won’t encounter that problem, considering much of the infrastructure is already in place. The estimated cost for the infrastructure of the next Winter Olympics is $7 billion.

Construction on the Olympic Stadium has begun, and the Alpensia Ski Resort will be used for the event. No venue will be more than 30 minutes from the stadium.

South Korea will have trouble coming close to matching the success that Russia had as the host nation. This year, the country totaled eight medals, including three golds.