Did you know...?

Did you know that Korea is the only country that has hosted ALL of these world's top sports events in just 20 years?

Tada!

-The Seoul Olympics in 1988
-The 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan
-The Korea Formula One Grandprix (2010!)
-The Ballantine's Championship in Jeju (European Tour) Golf 2008, 2009..

And we just won the bid for:

-The IAAF (Int'l Assoc. of Athletics Fed.) World Championhips in Athletics in Daegu (2013)
-The Incheon Asian Games in 2014! (which seems SO far away from now!)

Great!

Now, why all the craze for sports events? Not to mention we are bidding for another Olympics in Busan, 3rd bid for Winter Games in Pyeongchang, I mean.. is Korea the only country so desperate for hosting international sports events?

I mean.. are we ready for all this extravaganza?

I guess it is a question of "Which one comes first: egg or chicken?" The bottom line is, the country (or at least the bidding committee) hopes to benefit from a national standpoint. I get that. Our high hopes to draw the rest of the world's attention to the Republic of Korea... But, hey, what about the public sports facilities we lack in general? What about the treatment of our very own athletes? And our promotion strategy? Are we promoting Korea, our brand, in a right, timely manner? To simply put, are Koreans ready?

I just think we shouldn't miss out the important details in preparation of these grand opportunities... We need to make sure we aren't just following a mirage.

The cities may be ready in physical terms. But the citizens may not.