PyeongChang 2018: Olympic test event calendar
The pre-Olympic season is here, which mean’s the world’s top winter athletes are preparing for their first taste of PyeongChang 2018.
Here’s are list the Olympic test events taking place before February.
November
FIS World Cup Snowboard (big air)
November 25-26 at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkZT7_2SCA8
The winter Olympic Games are growing with the introduction of the newest snowboard event, big air, at PyeongChang 2018. With Canadians like Sochi 2014 bronze medallist Mark McMorris, X Games champion Max Parrot and Sébastien Toutant already impressing judges, fans can expect them to bring the ‘eh’ game at the first test event of the season.
December
ISU World Cup Short Track
December 16-18 at Arena Gangneung
Charle Cournoyer and Samuel Girard compete at the 1000m at the World Cup in Calgary on Nov. 6. ( Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
The ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup will be the first of several test events for ice sports in the coastal area of PyeongChang 2018. This competition is also listed as the fourth of six stops on the circuit of the World Cup.
January
Alpine FEC & President Cup
January 16-17, 2017 at Yongpyong Alpine Centre
The Yongpyong Alpine Centre has been running for two decades. The site was the host of a continental tour stop in 1995. Located just under the World Cup circuit, this stop of the continental circuit will attract the best skiers on the planet who will be able to test the track in conditions similar to those they will find at PyeongChang 2018.
February
FIS Cross Country World Cup
February 3-5, 2017 at Alpensia Cross-Country Centre
Alex Harvey edges Dario Cologna of Switzerland in Kuusamo, Finland to win FIS World Cup skate-ski silver on November 28, 2015.
The majority of test events for PyeongChang 2018 will be held in February. At the beginning of the month, cross-country skiing will be presented as part of the first ever Cross-Country Skiing World Cup held on Korean soil. The best founders of the circuit will have the chance to test the Alpensia tracks by taking part in the sprint, skiathlon and team sprint events.
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup
February 4-5, 2017 at Alpensia Cross-Country Centre
Olympic hopefuls who practice both ski jumping and cross-country skiing will be in South Korea the same weekend as the smelters to test the facilities of Alpensia for a first time at 12 months of the Olympics.
FIL first international training session
February 9-12, 2017 at Alpensia Sliding Centre
Alex Gough slides down the track during one of her two runs in Igls, Austria near Innsbruck, at the FIL Luge World Cup on November 28, 2015.
For the safety of the lugeurs, host cities of the Olympic Games must offer training sessions on their tracks before the Olympic competitions. In PyeongChang, athletes will have the chance to test the sliding track for a week in February and another one at the same time in 2018.
World Single Distance Championships
February 9-12, 2017 at Gangneung Oval
Alex Boisvert-Lacroix, of Canada, competes to take the bronze at the men’s 500 metres of the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Kolomna, Russia, on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
All speed skating Olympic trials in long track will be played at these World Championships giving participants the opportunity to experience the Games … before the games!
FIS Freestyle World Cup
February 10-18, 2017 at Bokwang Snow Park
Mike Riddle during one of his runs in heavy snow at the Sochi ski halfpipe competition.
The aerials, halfpipe, and moguls test events will be held exactly one year away from the PyeongChang Games, providing athletes with conditions that are almost identical to what they will experience during the Olympic Games.
FIS Snowboard World Cup
February 12-19, 2017 at Bokwang Snow Park
Alternating freestyle skiing events will also be held in parallel giant slalom and halfpipe events.
FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
February 15-16, 2017 at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre
Canada’s Atsuko Tanaka competes in the women’s individual normal ski jumping event during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia on Tuesday, February 11, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
The first World Cup of ski jumping on Korean soil will be held in Alpensia, where the women’s and men’s events will be held.
Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
February 16-19, 2017 at Gangneung Ice Arena
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada perform in the ice dance short program during the 2016 Skate Canada International competition in Mississauga, Ont., on Friday, October 28, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
The top skaters from countries outside Europe will meet in Gangneung to get a taste of the Olympic competition one year before the 2018 Games.
World Junior Curling Championships
February 16-26, 2017 at Gangneung Curling Centre
Team Canada in round robin action against Sweden at the 2015 World Men’s Championship in Halifax.
It is the hopes of tomorrow that will test the Olympic facilities for the curling events. This will be a general practice for equipment and support staff.
March
FIL Luge World Cup
February 17-19, 2017 at Alpensia Sliding Centre
Tristan Walker, Justin Snith, Arianne Jones et Mitchel Malyk célèbrent leur fin de saison en or à la Coupe du monde de Winterberg, le 21 février 2016. (Caroline Seidel/dpa via AP)
A week after training on the Olympic track, the lugeurs will be able to run all the events that will be on the program at PyeongChang 2018. It will be the first World Cup of luge in Korean soil and on the sole luge track in the country.
IBU Biathlon World Cup
March 2-5, 2017 at Alpensia Biathlon Centre
Zina Kocher competes in the biathlon at the Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex.
These athletes will test the course of the 2018 Olympic Games in March. Sprint, pursuit and relay events will be played during this stop of the circuit.
FIL first international training session
March 2-12, 2017 at Alpensia Sliding Centre
Dave Greszczyszyn of Canada speeds down the track during his first run of the men’s Skeleton World Cup race in Koenigssee, southern Germany, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)
Just as luge athletes, bobsleigh athletes and skeleton athletes will have the opportunity to practice on the Olympic track in 2017.
FIS Alpine World Cup
March 4-5, 2017 at Jeongseon Alpine Centre
Marie-Michele Gagnon competing in the women’s downhill at Sochi 2014 (Photo: The Canadian Press)
Next up the skiers to go down the slopes of PyeongChang 2018 in March when the first ever Alpine World Cup in South Korea will be held.
IBSF World Cup of Bobsleigh and Skeleton
March 17-19, 2017 at Alpensia Sliding Centre
Kaillie Humphries and Melissa Lotholz during the opening race of the 2015-16 bobsleigh World Cup season in Altenberg, Germany on November 27, 2015.
After a week of training,bobsleigh athletes and skeleton athletes will be able to test their learning at this stage of the World Cup which is also the first to take place in the host country of the 2018 Games.
April
Men’s World U18 Ice Hockey Division II (Group A)
April 2-8, 2017 at Gangneung and Kwandong Hockey Centres
Canadian men celebrate during one of the gold medal finals at NHL’s “World Cup of Hockey” in Toronto in September 2016.
The rising stars of ice hockey will be the first to test the ice of the hockey centres that will host the Olympic competitions of PyeongChang.
Women’s World U18 Ice Hockey Division II (Group A)
April 2-8, 2017 at Gangneung and Kwandong Hockey Centres
Goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer makes a save against Finland at the women’s world hockey championships on March 31, 2016 in Kamloops, B.C.. (Ryan Remiorz)
The best female prospects in the Netherlands, South Korea, Great Britain, Slovenia and Australia will also be in action on the PyeongChang 2018 skating rink in April.
