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| South Korea |
"Yes! Pyeongchang!" they shouted, ecstatic at the news from Durban, South Africa, that their town's bid for the 2018 games had triumphed.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge announced the decision in the South African city after Pyeongchang secured an overwhelming first-round win over Germany's Munich and France's Annecy.
Revellers in the resort danced to the beat of a traditional folk troupe, shook hands and punched the air in celebration.
"I'm so happy and delighted as all your efforts paid off," Prime Minister Kim Hwang-Sik told the crowd.
"We will do our best for the successful hosting of the 2018 Olympics."
South Korea has now secured its fourth global sporting event following the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, the 2002 football World Cup co-hosted with Japan, and next month's world athletics championships in Daegu.
"Our dreams finally came true. I'm so happy," said Lee Sang-Hyun, 55, waving a Pyeongchang flag.
President Lee Myung-Bak, speaking in Durban hours after delivering a passionate speech in English to IOC members in support of Pyeongchang, said the news was a victory for all South Koreans.
"This is a victory for the people of the Republic of Korea. My fellow Koreans, thank you!" Lee said.
Millions of Koreans had nervously awaited the vote, but in the end Pyeongchang secured an overwhelming 63 votes to 25 for Munich and just seven for Annecy.
"I think we were able to move the hearts of IOC members with our presentation," Cho Yang-Ho, head of the bidding committee, said in Durban.
"I feel that the emotional edge gave us the win, but I didn't expect such a large margin of victory. I was just hoping to get the majority," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.
"We scored a great victory," said resident Kim Heung-Sik, 46, in Pyeongchang. "I will never forget today."
Pyeongchang had narrowly lost two earlier Olympic bids, to Vancouver in Canada for the 2010 Games and then to Sochi in Russia for the 2014 event.
In both of those races, it led after the first round but lost out in the second round when it failed to secure swing votes.
This time the resort, 180 kilometres (110 miles) east of Seoul, had campaigned on the slogan "New Horizons" -- offering a chance to bring the Winter Olympics to economic powerhouse Asia for only the third time in the event's history.
Bid organisers also touted Pyeongchang's compact, athlete-friendly layout -- with all venues within 30 minutes of each other -- and the widespread public support for the bid.
South Korea is an Asian winter sports star, finishing fifth in the medal table in Vancouver with six golds.
It is also home to Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-Na, who had worked hard to promote the bid. A tearful Kim said after the announcement she was "delighted to be part of such a glorious moment".
Authorities have invested more than $1.5 billion to build facilities in and around Pyeongchang, which has a population of only about 50,000 including the surrounding county.
The blogosphere in the world's most wired nation was alive with excited comments after the victory.
On the country's major portal site Nate, 556 messages of congratulation were uploaded in just 5 minutes.
"The winter of dreams. It really has happened," wrote user Kim Woo-Hyun.
