Gwangju picked to host 2019 swimming championships

The South Korean metropolitan city of Gwangju was selected on Friday as the host of the 2019 world swimming championships.

In Barcelona, Spain, the international governing body of swimming, known as FINA, announced Gwangju as the host of the event, which was formally called the FINA World Aquatics Championships. 

The decision was reached without an election during the FINA Bureau Meeting in Barcelona, the host of the 2013 world championships this month.

Budapest, Hungary, which was in the bidding for both the 2019 and the 2021 championships, was chosen as the host for the 2021 event.

Gwangju becomes the first South Korean host of the championships, which were first held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1973. Gwangju joins Fukuoka of Japan and Shanghai of China as the only Asian hosts.

In 2008, Seoul had considered entering the race for the 2013 championships but never submitted a formal bid. Earlier that year, Park Tae-hwan captured the Olympic gold in the men's 400-meter freestyle race and the silver in the 200ｍ, becoming the first South Korean swimmer to win an Olympic medal.

Dubai was selected as the host of the 2013 event, but the city relinquished its rights in 2010, citing financial problems. Seoul was among five cities under consideration as the replacement but the FINA Bureau ultimately picked Barcelona.

Gwangju, located 330 kilometers south of Seoul with the population of 1.5 million, will also host the 2015 Summer Universiade, a multi-sport event for university athletes.

The victory came just hours after South Korean government officials accused Gwangju Mayor Kang Un-tae of forging signatures by high-ranking officials in a bid document.

Officials said Kang had forged the signatures of former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and former Culture Minister Choe Kwang-sik in a document guaranteeing the central government's financial support. 

The paper was part of Gwangju's letter of intent to host the championships and was submitted to FINA in October of last year.

FINA inspectors visiting Gwangju discovered the forgery in April and the city promptly replaced it for its final bid in June.

Officials said earlier Friday that they will quickly take steps to press charges against the mayor, regardless of the result of the bid race.

The five major disciplines at the world championships are swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo, open water swimming, diving and high diving, which has been included for the first time this year.

According to Barcelona organizers, 2,293 athletes from 181 countries will participate in this year's event, running from July 19 to Aug. 4, making it the largest FINA championships ever. They added 209 countries have purchased rights to broadcast the championships this year.

Park has won two world titles, in 2007 and in 2011, both in the 400ｍ freestyle, along with a bronze in the 200ｍ freestyle in 2007. He remains the only South Korean to have reached the podium at the signature FINA event.

Kazan, Russia, will stage the 2015 championships, followed by Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2017.

(Yonhap News)