Bach Honored by S. Korea

International Olympic Committee head Thomas Bach has received a state medal from South Korean President Moon Jae-in for his contribution to the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

As reported by Yonhap, Bach was given the Cheongryong Medal, South Korea’s highest sporting honor, in a ceremony at the Blue House in Seoul, Insidethegames.biz reported.

North and South Korea marched together under the unification flag at the Pyeongchang 2018 opening ceremony and, for the first time in Olympic history, competed together as part of a unified Korean women’s ice hockey team.

Bach claimed during last month’s IOC session that Pyeongchang 2018 has “brought real hope” to everybody in the Korean Peninsula by encouraging better relations between North and South.

Bach has also been awarded an honorary citizenship by Seoul City for his role in forming the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team.

The honorary citizenship was awarded by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon at City Hall.

“I sincerely thank IOC President Thomas Bach for his deep interest in peace on the peninsula and for his devotion to make us feel that we were all united during the Pyeongchang Olympics,” Park was reported as saying by The Korea Herald. “The Olympics truly became the ‘Peace Olympics’.”