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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Organizers of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, have set up a virtual-reality ski simulator -- complete with fake, blowing snow -- on Copacabana Beach.Having sun and sand is normal here, but not snow, said local Danieli Evangelista, stepping off the make-believe ski slope after waiting in line for 30 minutes for a taste of winter during the Summer Olympics. Hardly anyone here ever sees snow. Its very cool, a very real effect.Its also about to get very real for the next hosts of the Olympic Games.Were not ready to go today, but were getting ready, Kim Jaeyoul, vice president of the Pyeongchang organizing committee, told The Associated Press.South Koreas games will be the first of three straight in Asia, joining the Tokyo Summer Games in 2020 and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022. These come after a run of difficult games in Sochi, Russia, and now Rio de Janeiro, with the International Olympic Committee looking for a safe pair of hands, as Tokyo labeled its winning bid three years ago.Yet organizers in Pyeongchang have struggled with construction delays, local conflicts over venues and a slow pace in attracting domestic sponsorship. This contrasts with the smoother run-ups to the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2002 World Cup that South Korea co-hosted with Japan.Unlike the 1988 Olympics and the 2002 World Cup, it was not the central government but a province that led the efforts to bring the Olympics, said Heejoon Chung, who teaches sports science at South Koreas Dong-A University. There is a sentiment that the Winter Games are more about Pyeongchang than the nation as a whole.The Pyeongchang organizing committee named Lee Hee-beom its new president three months ago. It was the second leadership change in two years, and thats worried the International Olympic Committee.Lee bowed to IOC President Thomas Bach, and then to almost 100 IOC members, before addressing the full membership just days before the Rio Olympics opened.Id like to assure you that our preparations are fully on track, Lee told them.In introducing him, Bach called Lee a very dynamic and reliable leader, and joked that he promised he will be with us until the games take place.Organizers say that after a rocky start, 90 percent of the sponsorship target of $760 million will be met at the end of the year. Sponsorship will provide about one-third of the 2.2 trillion won, or $2 billion, operating budget. Kim said the budget would be adjusted in the next few weeks, compensating for inflation.Six new competition venues are about 80 percent complete, and a new high-speed rail line will be finished in June of 2017 and in operation the following January. The line will link Incheon airport to Pyeongchang and reduce travel time to 90 minutes from almost twice that much.Pyeongchang is also building a controversial sliding center for bobsled, luge and skeleton, after rejecting an IOC suggestion that it use a complex previously constructed for the games in Nagano, Japan, to save money. The cost is 124 billion won ($112 million) for a venue that could be a white elephant if not managed properly.Gunilla Lindberg, the IOC member heading the planning for Pyeongchang, said the sliding center and the International Broadcast Center are slightly delayed.Meantime, competition is heating up between South Korea and China over whose Olympic ski venue might ultimately become a destination for Asian tourists. Beijing planners have picked Zhangjiakou as the ski site for the 2022 games. Pyeongchang has some advantages, as it gets more natural snow than Zhangjiakou.A ski resort built for the Beijing Games is not going to be enough, considering the population of China, Kim said. We want to attract Chinese, but also Southeast Asians.Pyeongchang is in South Koreas Gangwon Province, and the central and provincial governments have been battling over who should pay the Olympic bills as skepticism grows about the long-term economic benefits of mega-sporting events, said Chung, the sports science professor.Pyeongchang mostly got what it wanted, Chung said, noting the province has pushed off costs to the central government. It has no choice. Its still the Olympics, and you dont want to look bad hosting it.---Kim contributed from Seoul, South Korea.---Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP .His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wadeFake Football Jerseys . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. Cheap Football Jerseys Authentic . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. https://www.fakefootballjerseys.com/ . Howard Ganz, an MLB lawyer, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos that Rodriguezs claims do not come "remotely close" to what is needed to overturn an arbitration decision in federal court. Wholesale Football Jerseys . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. Cheap Football Jerseys . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators.After a dominant performance in Rio, the Final Five returned home this week. And, in the least surprising news ever, the gold-medal-winning gymnasts have been in high demand ever since touching down.After meeting Usher, hanging out at Today and checking out the Empire State Building, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian appeared on The Tonight Show. But instead of a standard appearance, the women helped Fallon introduce the world to a new game: Hungry Hungry Humans.Joining forces with Fallon, actor Donald Glover aand The Roots Tariq Trotter, they split up into groups of two to see who could gather the most balls, just like the classic kids game, but, you know, with people.ddddddddddddI wont spoil the results, but I will tell you that a gymnastics duo walks away with the top prize. Duh, right?Well, that was AWESOME.See something entertaining on social media that you think deserves to be shared? Let me know on Twitter, @darcymaine_espn. ' ' '