Yang Ho Cho, the chairman and chief executive of Pyeongchang 2018, has exclusively told insidethegames that he is hoping to persuade Kim to be part of the South Korean delegation that is due to make the first official presentation of the campaign at the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), which is due to be held in Acapulco between October 20 and 22 and be attended by more than 200 NOCs.

The appearance of Kim, the star of the Vancouver Olympics when she skated to the gold medal, would ensure that Pyeongchang's bid gets off to a high-profile start and give it the edge over its rivals, who also include Annecy.

Kim, Korea's biggest name, is already a member of an Athletes Committee formed by Pyeongchang to advise them on the bid but a much bigger role is planned for her during the build-up to the final vote at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Durban on July 6, 2011.

Cho told insidethegames: "Everybody is talking about Kim.

"She is already committed to the bid and has promised to contribute to our campaign.

"I have asked her to come to Acapulco as part of our delegation and I am waiting to hear back from her.

"I am sure that she will come if she can."

Kim's short programme, long programme and combined total scores in Vancouver were the highest scores ever recorded since the new International Skating Union judging system was created.



Aftewards TIME magazine voted the teenager one of the most influential people in the world and earlier this month Los Angeles City Council passed a special resolution to declare "Yu-Na Kim Day" in honour of her achievements (pictured).

The battle between Pyeongchang and Munich has already been dubbed the "Battle of the Divas" as Witt, the 1984 and 1988 figure skating champion, is the chair of the German city's bid.

Witt, like Cho, has been visiting here to attend the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games and to lobby discreetly on behalf of their respective bids.

The IOC had asked the three bidding cities to keep activity to a minimum to avoid overshadowing the Youth Olympics.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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