[평창2018개최 3년 前 방한한 Lillehammer1994동계올림픽조직위원장의 평창2018 사후활용계획 조언 다시 살펴보기]
Gerhard Heiberg노르웨이 IOC위원은 1994년 Lillehammer동계올림픽조직위원장으로 대회를 친환경, 친 유산 동계올림픽으로 치름으로써 동계올림픽 사상 가장 조직이 잘된 대회(the best organized Olympic Winter Games)로 평가 받은 바 있습니다.
이러한 공로로 당시 Juan Antonio Samaranch IOC위원장은 1994년 Lillehammer동계올림픽 직 후 같은 해 열린 IOC총회에서 주저 없이 그를 IOC위원으로 추천하여 만장일치로 IOC위원으로 산출하였으며 그의 탁월한 조직력과 추진력을 높이 사서 그를 IOC마케팅분과위원장으로 임명한 바도 있습니다.
(노르웨이 Oslo방문 시 Gerhard Heiberg IOC위원과 함께)
그는 평창2010 동계올림픽유치 경쟁 당시 IOC평가위원장으로 방한하였으며 친 한파로 평창에 대한 애정이 남다른 우호인사였습니다.
평창2018 대회는 성공적 개최에도 불구하고 사후활용방안에 대한 구체적이고 완전하고 검증 가능한 대회유산계획이 아직 본 궤도에 오르고 있지 못한 상태입니다.
3년 전인 2015년 5월 2003년에 이어 2년만에 한국을 다시 찾은 Gerhard Heiberg 노르웨이 IOC위원의 조언을 다시 한번 되새겨 보면서 벤치마킹에 들어가야 할 시점이라고 생각합니다.
아래 내용은 Heiberg IOC위원이 Korea Times와의 인터뷰 내용 사본입니다.
Post-Olympic plan crucial for PyeongChang (대회사후활용계획 평창에 중차대함)
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The Alpensia Sliding Center, which will feature bobsleigh, skeleton and luge events during the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, is under construction. To benchmark the success of the 1994 Lillehammer Games, experts say PyeongChang needs a sustainable post-Olympic plan for making use of facilities after the Games and boosting tourism. / Korea Times file |
1994 Winter Olympics chief organizer advises 2018 organizers(1994년 동계올림픽조직위원장이 평창2018에 주는 조언)
By Nam Hyun-woo
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Gerhard Heiberg, chairman of the Lillehammer 1994 Olympic Organizing Committee |
With some 1,100 days left before the kick-off of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, the organizers are striving to come up with plans to ensure the legacy of the nation's first Winter Olympics. However, they do not appear close to providing a tangible plan thus far on how to evade an empty ghost town where the party has left.
To suggest a good precedent, The Korea Times interviewed Chairman of the Lillehammer 1994 Olympic Organizing Committee (LOOC) Gerhard Heiberg. The event is widely considered to be the "standard" of the Winter Olympics. But before the alpine town hosted the Olympics, Lillehammer was unknown to the world, much like PyeongChang.
After Lillehammer held the Olympics two decades ago, the small and remote town in southern Norway has become a frequent choice for winter sports event organizers or athletes seeking place for training.
And Heiberg, who has been an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member since the Games, said the success was possible because of thorough plans before the event.
"Already from the start of the bid, we spent a lot of time on planning of the legacy and after-use of the different venues," Heiberg said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times. "After the Games, as planned, most of the Olympic Village was moved to the north of Norway as apartments for student housing, while some hotels were also moved to other cities after the event."
According to "1994 Winter Olympics Report," published by the LOOC six months after the Games, the organizers anticipated that for a small city like Lillehammer, it was clear that there would be no need for all the accommodation and housing built for the Olympic event. Thus, the organizers decided to build less permanent houses and build more temporary houses so that they can be moved to other parts of the country. The permanent part consisted of 185 houses, of which 141 were later sold privately. The rest were built as movable units.
The international media center was refurbished and turned into the Lillehammer University College a year after the game. Also, all sports venues are being used, drawing many athletes every year for training and competitions.
"We thought that our biggest headache would be the after-use of the bob and luge facility," Heiberg said.
Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track was completed in 1992 to be the first sliding track in Norway. To have more use after the Games, bobsleighs with wheels ("Wheel-bobs") were introduced during the summer of 1993 and are in operation throughout the summer season until now. In addition to bobsledding, a separate activity park was built to offer activities such as ATV riding and rifle practices.
"After having found a solution to using this venue, also in the summer time, we are happy to say that it functions very well, also economically," he said.
Alike the LOOC, the sliding center for bobsleigh and luge events under construction in PyeongChang was a big headache for the Korean organizers because of the IOC's move last year urging the host to split the events at venues outside of Korea out of concern that the center may have little use after the event. PyeongChang, however, said no to the suggestion.
"The building of massive stadiums is over," Heiberg said. "Today, the IOC wants to have stadiums that can match the use after the Games. We do not want ghost buildings."
1) Advice for PyeongChang (평창에 대한 조언)
Heiberg recalled the LOOC had to come up with the legacy plans first to persuade Norwegians why the small town of some 26,000 people wanted to host one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
"In order for the population of Lillehammer and for Norway to accept that Lillehammer would like to stage the Games, we needed to have a plan for the legacy before our government gave the necessary economic guarantees," he said. "And after the Games had finished, we had a fund for the after-use. That fund is still in use, which means that we do not lose much money every year on operating the venues."
Also before the event, local communities were set up to study ways to deliver the legacy in the Games, such as tourism, new industries, new employment possibilities. Heiberg said he is proud to say the communities have been doing great and are still taking care of the legacy.
Heiberg was the chairman of the Evaluation Commission for the Winter Olympics 2010 and visited Gangwon Province, where encompasses the host counties of PyeongChang, Jeongseon and the city of Gangneung, to see proposed venues and facilities.
"We have a lot of national and international events in most of the disciplines with receiving many athletes every year for training. Of course, Korea could do the same in PyeongChang. If you plan this long time in advance and see to it that you have the right relations with the international sports federations," he said.
Though the Lillehammer Olympics is regarded a great success, as Heiberg said, not all goals of LOOC could be achieved, especially creating long-term cash cow by boosting tourism in the region -- one of the purposes of hosting the event.
According to "Mega-events and impacts on tourism; the predictions and realities of the Lillehammer Olympics," a paper by Jon Teigland at the Western Norway Research Institute, 40 percent of the full-service hotels in Lillehammer have gone bankrupt five years after the Games.
In an interview with CNN, the Norwegian social scientist said Korean organizers "should be very careful about developing a lot of accommodation facilities if they have not seen strong growth in winter sports already."
Heiberg said that PyeongChang Organizers work very hard, but they have some challenges in local sponsorships and geographic locations of PyeongChang and some other venues. However, he said he is convinced that the organizers will find some good solutions, adding, "There is still time for this."
"For the success of the Games, it is important for the organizing country to get many medals for their own athletes. It is also very important to get lots of spectators and show their enthusiasm to the TV audiences around the world," he added.
2) Lillehammer shares secret of success (Lillehammer동계올림픽 성공비결 공유)
Organizer advises PyeongChang to add enthusiasm (평창2018 열정추가에 박차를 가하라)
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Kim Yu-na applauds at the International Media Forum for the Successful Delivery of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics at the 63 Convention Center, Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
The former chairman of the Lillehammer Olympics organizing committee has stressed the importance of enthusiasm and smiling in the successful staging of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, during an international media forum Thursday.
"It is a question about how to show the world the sentiment and the feelings of Koreans," Gerhard Heiberg told The Korea Times on the sidelines of the International Sports Media Forum for the Successful Delivery of the 2018 Games at the 63 Convention Center in Seoul. "The staffers, volunteers and other relevant officials should know that they have to smile for 17 days, 24 hours a day, and display enthusiasm for the Games."
Unlike domestic views focusing on physical details, such as constructing venues, the 1994 Games chief organizer said that it was the cheapest way to bring about a successful Games.
"When I was the chairman of the Lillehammer organizing committee, I told them one thing: 'Smile 24 hours for 17 days.' It's important to remember the Olympic Games is not about money, business or industry, but about having fun," he said.
The Winter Olympics will come to Korea in the alpine town of PyeongChang in some 1,000 days. During the forum, Heiberg asked the PyeongChang organizers not to ignore the importance of those values during the 17-day run from Feb. 9, 2018.
"Their smiles will be presented to almost 3 billion people watching television," he said. "By that, it will be possible to show the world that people are having fun in Korea and enjoying what they are doing, as well as letting them know the Olympics is something really special."
Along with Heiberg, who is also an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, International Sports Press Association (AIPS) President Gianni Merlo and Vancouver Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-na were present at the forum co-hosted by the Korea Sports Press Union (KSPU) and the AIPS.
Kim called for increased national interest for the Games, stressing it will be the key to the successful delivery of the first Winter Olympics on Korean soil.
"The Olympics will come to Korea within some 1,000 days, but it is still hard to say the preparations are going smoothly and perfectly," said KSPU President Kim Kyung-ho. "So we came to consider how Korea should prepare the Games and what we should present to the world. With the knowledge and experience of experts in the global winter sports community, the forum will hopefully contribute to the success of the PyeongChang Games."
*References:
-The Korea Times
