Celebrating the 200-day countdown to the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, South Korea unveiled the medals for the competition Thursday.
The organizing committee for the event to be held across Gangwon Province said the back of the medals was designed by students from Gangwon-based middle and high schools, who took their cues from the natural surroundings of the east coast province and snow.
Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na, acting as an honorary ambassador for Gangwon 2024, did the unveiling during the ceremony in Seoul.
Earlier in the year, Brazilian architect Dante Akira Uwai won the design competition for the front of medals, as run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Also introduced Thursday was the uniform for volunteers and the operation staff.
The countdown reached 200 days Monday. The 2024 Winter Youth Olympics will run from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1, with some 1,900 athletes from 70 countries competing for 81 gold medals in 15 events.
Athletes must have been born between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2009.
Gangwon 2024 will be the fourth edition of the quadrennial event and the first to take place outside Europe. The previous competitions were held in Austria, Norway and Switzerland.
Gangwon 2024 organizers said they will not construct any new venues. Those used during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangwon Province, with PyeongChang as the main host, will be back in the spotlight during the Winter Youth Olympics. PyeongChang will stage ski jump, biathlon, cross-country skiing and sliding events, while the coastal city of Gangneung, just east of PyeongChang, will be home to all ice events: hockey, speed skating, short track speed skating, figure skating and curling. Snowboard and alpine skiing will take place in the neighboring towns of Hoengseong and Jeongseon.
Source: Yonhap News Agency