PyeongChang names TV announcers as honorary Olympic ambassadors

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Friday named 12 South Korean television announcers as their new honorary ambassadors.

The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) selected four announcers and sports casters each from the country's three major terrestrial networks -- MBC, KBS and SBS.

"TV announcers will play an important role in delivering the excitement of the Winter Olympics to viewers," said POCOG President Lee Hee-beom at a press conference. "In particular, I expect our new honorary ambassadors to promote PyeongChang 2018 during the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games next month."

The announcers, all of whom have varying degrees of sports broadcasting experience, said they considered it an honor to be tasked with promoting the first Winter Games to be held in South Korea.

"For our generation, the 2002 FIFA World Cup (co-hosted by South Korea and Japan) was the one sporting event that will stay with us a long time," said MBC's Kim Na-jin, 36. "And I think the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics will be the same for us and the younger generation. All of us here will try to make PyeongChang 2018 something we'll always be proud of."

The dozen announcers join former Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na, two-time Olympic speed skating gold medalist Lee Sang-hwa, Major League Baseball players Ryu Hyun-jin and Choo Shin-soo, and American Olympic alpine skiing champion Lindsey Vonn as PyeongChang's ambassadors.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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