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South Korea close to ready for 2018 Winter Olympics, officials say

Security personnel stands by a logo of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games before an event to mark the start of the 500-day countdown in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 27.
(Lee Jin-man / Associated Press)
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Concluding their latest visit to South Korea, Olympic leaders expressed confidence in preparations for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

The International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission announced Friday that the host city’s venues are 90% complete with dozens of test events scheduled for a six-month stretch beginning in November.

“We saw firsthand the progress of the construction projects,” said Gunilla Lindberg, the commission’s chairman. “There is no doubt that the venues will be ready for the upcoming test events.”

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The most-recent IOC report no doubt comes as a relief to an Olympic movement that weathered years of worry in the run-up to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Economic hardship and governmental chaos throughout Brazil led to a spate of delays and cutbacks for that event.

“With the Rio Games now behind us, it is time for Pyeongchang,” said Hee-beom Lee, president of the host city’s organizing committee.

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david.wharton@latimes.com

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