As a snowboard athlete, I had the privilege of participating in a two-week training camp in Pyeongchang, South Korea, host of the 2018 Winter Olympics, in January 2024 as part of the Dream Programme. Around 27 countries participated, with 130 athletes and coaches from all over the world, in all winter sports. The opportunity was made possible thanks to the PyeongChang 2018 Legacy Foundation in Korea, which organises this extraordinary event in PyeongChang and Gangneung every year.
We spent 12 days there with the Hungarian team, consisting of two coaches and two athletes. The idea of the founders was to bring together athletes from countries that have very few or limited opportunities to participate in winter sports – at a high level. In addition to sport, we also had the opportunity to take a look at the cultural life of the Eastern countries. I found the Taekwondo demonstration interesting and the traditional Korean music demonstration a true curiosity. Fortunately, there was time for two days of sightseeing, and I was particularly pleased to visit Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and Gangneung, a beautiful coastal city. The latter is also famous for being the venue for the 2018 Olympics ice sports.
Of course, there was also a friendly competition, which I successfully won in my group.
I am very happy to have been part of this programme as I was able to visit the 2018 Winter Olympics, train with amazing athletes from all countries and make close friends. I am happy to have experienced Korean hospitality and culture. I hope that life will bring me here again in the future.
This was a very good start to my season and I hope to continue with the same good experiences and results.
Lilla Fekete