Korea 2014 Winter Olympic Bid Enters Final Selection Round

Korea’s Winter Olympic bid has passed it’s first test:

Three cities — two from Europe and one from Asia — made the cut Thursday as the IOC trimmed the field for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Salzburg, Austria; Pyeongchang, South Korea; and Sochi, Russia; were selected as finalists by the International Olympic Committee’s executive board.

Eliminated from the race were Almaty, Kazakhstan; Borjomi, Georgia; Jaca, Spain; and Sofia, Bulgaria.

While Thursday’s cut was made by the Olympics’ 15-member ruling body, the full 100-plus IOC assembly will select the host city at its session in Guatemala City on July 4, 2007.

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Salzburg and Pyeongchang were finalists in the vote for the 2010 Olympics, which were awarded to Vancouver, British Columbia. The little-known Korean bid finished a surprising second, and the Austrian city third.

Pyeongchang, in Korea’s Gangwon Province, is hoping to build on its momentum from the first bid to establish itself as an Asian winter sports capital.

“Pyeongchang is unique in that we are located in Asia and we will be able to expand the Olympic movement in our part of the world better than the other two cities,” bid chairman Han Seung-hoo said.