IOC starts tour of 2014 candidates in South Korea

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Feb 13 (Reuters) International Olympic Committee (IOC) inspectors began their tour of the three candidates to host the 2014 Winter Games with today's stop in South Korea where thousands waited in the snow to greet them.

The IOC evaluation team travel to the rustic mountain town of Pyeongchang, Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi and the historic Austrian city of Salzburg over the next few weeks before the winning bid is announced in July.

''This is great. I am overwhelmed,'' said Japan's Chiharu Igaya, head of the 16-member IOC team, of the raucous welcome.

Several thousand residents braved heavy snowfall and shouted ''Welcome. Yes, Pyeongchang'', as the inspectors left their bus, escorted by young women who held umbrellas for them.

Pyeongchang, which narrowly lost out to the Canadian city of Vancouver in its bid to host the 2010 Olympics, has put together a proposal to keep the Games in a compact area at sites that have already hosted international ski and snowboard events.

The IOC team will spend three days here talking with officials and visiting proposed venues.

''We are ready to host the Olympics. We have already built all the main facilities,'' said Kim Sang-joo, a senior official at one of the ski resorts selected as a possible venue.

If the South Korean ski area located about 200-kms (120 miles) east of Seoul is chosen, it will be the third time the Winter Games have come to Asia after Japan's Sapporo and Nagano.

REUTERS DH BD1858