For The Record

Awarded

To the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, the 2018 Winter Olympics. Following two close but failed efforts in the past eight years, Pyeongchang crushed all bidders on July 6, taking 63 votes to runner-up Munich's 25, for the second-largest first-round margin in Olympic history. South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was on hand for the announcement in Durban, South Africa, as was Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na, who cried, saying she was "lost for words about now." The town of 47,000 in the Taebaek Mountains becomes the first Asian host city outside of Japan (a point driven home in South Korea's bid presentation) but is certain to draw attention for its proximity to North Korea, whose border, some 50 miles away, is marked by minefields and barbed-wire fences.