South Korea's secret weapon scores big

By Peter Auf der Heyde Jul 6, 2011, 16:04 GMT

Durban, South Africa - When Germany's International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Thomas Bach addressed his fellow IOC members at Wednesday's 123rd IOC Session, he told them why they should vote for Munich as the host for the 2018 Winter Games.

Bach also made several comments geared directly towards the Pyeongchang bid, saying that Wednesday's voting was not about previous bids, it was simply about the merits of the present bids.

But while he was able to speak about previous bids and about opening new horizons - which were two of the cornerstones of the Pyeongchang bid - Bach and virtually all others in the Durban International Conference Hall were taken by surprise when freestyle skater Toby Dawson addressed the meeting.

British advisor Mike Lee, who acted as a consultant to the Pyeongchang bid, described Dawson as the secret weapon in their successful bid, which saw the South Koreans prevail with 63 votes in the first round of voting against Munich, which received 25 votes, followed by Annecy on seven votes.

Born in South Korea as Kim Bong-seok, he was adopted by an American couple from Vail in Colorado as a three year old after effectively being lost in a crowded market.

When his parents could not be traced, Kim was adopted and given the name Toby Dawson. His parents were both skiing instructors and Dawson took to the sport like a fish to water.

In 2006 in Turin, he won the bronze medal in freestyle skiing, but little was heard of him since then until he reappeared in Durban at the IOC Session.

'I felt like I had a great story to tell and I love South Korea. I am so excited to be a part of this bid and I am so honoured that they asked me to come here and support them.'

In his address to the IOC members, he said that his life story showed clearly what the Pyeongchang bid was all about.

'I was born in South Korea as Kim Bong-seok, but was adopted by an American couple. Through them I had the opportunity to become an Olympian,' he said.

'I would not have been able to become an Olympian if I had not been adopted.

'Our bid is about giving every child the chance to participate, to excel and to succeed. It can change the lives of millions of kids. My dream is that every child everywhere in the world has that hope.'

He admitted that he had been sworn to secrecy about his presentation. 'We have been talking about it for a while, but they wanted to keep it under wraps and I did not even tell my family or friends about it.

'I have had a speech for a couple of months, but we kept on changing it around, of course.'

The Olympics also helped Dawson re-connect with his birth family.

'After the 2006 Olympics I was actually able to find my birth father and I have been able to come closer to him and the South Korean community.

'I also have a younger birth brother that I never knew about, so I am really embracing the culture and I want to learn the language and be able to speak to them as they don't speak English.'

Having already worked with the women's freestyle team in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Olympics, Dawson is now hoping to work on a more regular basis with the national team.

And if South Korea win a first skiing medal in 2018, it could well be that the secret weapon has struck again.

Read more about Dawson