Some people were rather upset with how 2018 Winter Olympics organizers handled the dangerous South Korea winds that impacted -- and later postponed -- weekend skiing, suggesting money held a higher priority than safety.
After you see the price tag for the Pyeongchang Games, you might understand why.
As reported by the Associated Press in mid-December and reiterated by Money Talks News this week, it cost about $12.9 billion for the South Korean county, located just about 100 miles from Seoul, to host this year's Winter Olympics.
And if that sounds high, that's because it is -- even to Olympic organizers. As those reports noted, original estimates for Pyeongchang's costs ranged between $7 and $8 billion, meaning the 2018 events required at least $4 billion more than was anticipated when the area won the bid for the Games in 2011.
A good chunk of those funds, per Money Talks News, went toward transportation from the capital to Pyeongchang:
The money was spent on building six new venues and refurbishing six others in the area, according to Curbed. To get athletes and spectators to the area, there is a brand new $3.7 billion express train running from Seoul to Pyeongchang.
Time will tell, but the early indications are that the big bucks may be paying off. Just this week, Shaun White's gold-medal run at one of Pyeongchang's venues became the second most-watched event in NBC's Winter Games history.
