IOC members visit venues for 2018 winter Olympics in South Korea

International Olympic Committee (IOC) members on 17 March toured venues for the Pyeongchang 2018 winter Olympics in South Korea, ahead of the fourth meeting of the IOC Coordination Commission.

The IOC members, led by coordination commission chair Gunilla Lindberg, checked the Ice Arena for figure skating and short track speed skating, which is located in Gangneung, about 420km east of Seoul.

"We can see they're following the time schedule that we will be ready for the test events. It's the whole concept of the games. It's happening a lot of things now," said Lindberg during the tour.

"And we will have presentations on the different parts like the finance, legacy and budget and marketing all these points. And then at the end of those three days I think we will have a lot of information," she added.

During the visit, the Commission members will look at a number of different areas including the mountain cluster and the coastal cluster to check preparation, according to the IOC.

The IOC has voted to allow host cities to move events to other towns, or countries, breaking with the tradition of keeping the Games in one location and fuelling speculation Pyeongchang could take advantage of the change.

However, earlier this month, the president of the Pyeongchang 2018 Organising Committee, Cho Yang-ho said only a natural disaster could force South Korea's Pyeongchang to consider sharing Winter Olympics events, moving to quell ongoing speculation some sports could be switched to other cities.

Pyeongchang's preparations for Asia's first Winter Games outside Japan have been beset by budget issues, with Gangwon Province, where the town is located, at odds with the government over how much of the cost it should bear.

The total cost of the Games is estimated at more than 11tn won (£5.59bn, $9.75bn), with the Alpensia Sliding Centre costing more than 120bn won.

The Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games will be held from 5-25 February 2018.