Visitors to Gangwon 2024 also praised the Play Winter Zone Festival Sites that provided a wide variety of free activities at various venues, including sports demonstrations, live music and interactive food and craft experiences. The festivals, organised by the PyeongChang 2018 Legacy Foundation in collaboration with the Gangwon 2024 Organising Committee, welcomed more than 110,000 visitors during the YOG, with 70 per cent of fans surveyed saying they strongly enjoyed the cultural and sporting activities on offer, ranking them eight or higher out of 10.
Paying tribute to the host nation following the success of the YOG, President Bach said: “All this would not have been possible without the great work from our Korean friends: the Organising Committee, the Korean people, the volunteers, the different levels of government. All of them were highly engaged to make these Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 a brilliant success.”
Record-breaking digital reach on Olympics digital platforms
In addition to its on-site success, Gangwon 2024 also achieved impressive digital engagement, surpassing previous YOG benchmarks on the Olympics digital platforms.
Overall, the YOG reached more than 810,000 users via the Olympics web and app platforms, representing a 26 per cent increase compared with the Winter YOG Lausanne 2020. Meanwhile, on Olympics social media, the YOG generated 313 million engagements across the official @Olympics channels, making Gangwon 2024 the most successful social media campaign for the IOC since the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, with President Bach calling this an “unprecedented result for a junior event – an overwhelming success that we greatly appreciate”.
Broadcast coverage of Gangwon 2024 also reached an estimated 137 million unique viewers globally. The shift towards digital platforms resulted in a significant increase in digital consumption, with a 336 per cent rise in minutes viewed compared to the previous YOG, highlighting the evolving landscape of sports media consumption and the growing importance of digital streaming.
Presenting the report to the EB, IOC Member Hong Zhang, Chair of the Coordination Commission for Gangwon 2024, said: “The Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 have truly set a new benchmark for youth sports events. Our athletes and spectators experienced the magic of the Olympic spirit firsthand, and the record digital engagement has shown the global reach and impact of these Games. We are proud of the positive feedback and the overwhelming support from our local and international audiences. This success would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of everyone involved.”