PyeongChang 2018 Unveils Podiums, Costumes for Victory Ceremonies

PyeongChang 2018 unveiled the podiums, costumes, music and gifts for medalists on Wednesday that will be used during the victory ceremonies at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games next year.

The Organizing Committee said the victory ceremonies will be staged under the concept of “convergence and unique.”
The POCOG said designs of the victory ceremony items are based on the idea of combining aspects of Western and Eastern culture, as well as modern and traditional. The victory ceremony programs will also deliver the unique beauty of South Korean culture, the organizers said.

Top performing athletes at both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be recognized at the venue immediately after the end of competition. They will be honoured again in a victory ceremony which the organizers like to call a “cultural celebration.”

The POCOG said the Olympics will have 103 victory ceremonies, while the Paralympics will have 80 medal-awarding events. The ceremonies will be staged at the Medal Plaza inside the Olympic Plaza in PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. during the Games.

The white podiums — designed by Han Kyung-woo, a professor of installation art at Seoul National University of Science & Technology — were inspired by snow on Korean traditional tiled roofs, also known as “giwa,” and applied characteristics of “dancheong,” Korean traditional decorative colouring on wooden buildings and artifacts.

The podium structure is modular in design to account for its weight and ease of mobility, according to the organizers. For the podiums for the Paralympics, there are slopes to provide easy wheelchair access.

“It took me more than six months to design the podium,” Han said. “I tried my best to incorporate Korean aesthetic culture.”

For more information click here