Gangneung Hockey Centre ( ko, 강릉 아이스하키 경기장) is an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

located in the coastal city of

Gangneung Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. The arena was one of the two venues for the

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

events at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , wint ...

, serving as the main venue for the men's tournament and medal matches. It also hosted the ice

sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitat ...

competition during the

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympi ...

. The cost of construction for the venue was estimated to be 108 billion won (about $90 million US). Construction started in July 2014 and was completed in March 2017. Korea Ice Hockey Association president Chung Mong-won stated a desire for the Gangneung Hockey Centre to become the focus of ice hockey in Korea, and to leave an Olympic Games legacy. He said, "My dream is to turn Gangneung into a hockey town. I hope to see the day when people think of Gangneung, they'll think of hockey". In 2019, the Korea Ice Hockey Association voted to run its national development programs in Gangneung.

References

{{Olympic venues in ice hockey Sports venues in Gangneung Venues of the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey venues Indoor arenas in South Korea

See also

References