The 2024 Winter Youth Olympics opening in South Korea next week will host a record number of athletes, the competition’s organizers said Tuesday.
The organizing committee for the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics said Tuesday 1,803 athletes from 79 countries will participate in the Jan. 19-Feb. 1 event.
It will be the largest Winter Youth Olympics to date in terms of the number of athletes and participating countries. The 2020 event in Lausanne, Switzerland, hosted 1,788 from 76 countries.
Gangwon officials said 1,896 athletes had met qualifying criteria but 93 of them will not participate.
According to Gangwon, host South Korea will have the largest delegation with 102 athletes, followed by the United States with 101 and Germany with 90.
These athletes will compete in 81 events across seven sports and 15 disciplines.
The Winter Youth Olympics will take place in the same eastern region of South Korea that hosted the 23rd Winter Olympics six years ago. Many of the venues from PyeongChang 2018 will be back i
n use this time, including those for ski jumping, biathlon, sliding events and ice events.
All events except for the Jan. 19 opening ceremony in Gangneung, some 160 kilometers east of Seoul, will have free admission. Vouchers can be booked online at gangwon2024.com.
Source: Yonhap News Agency