FILE: OLYMPICS - The three cities bidding to host the 2018 Winter Olympics await the IOC's decision on July 6

Record ID: 329719

  • Title: FILE: OLYMPICS - The three cities bidding to host the 2018 Winter Olympics await the IOC's decision on July 6
  • Date: 2nd July 2011
  • Summary: GUANGZHOU, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA (NOVEMBER 13, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) PYEONGCHANG 2018 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES BID CHIEF CHO YANG-HO SAYING: "If we have the honour to host Pyeongchang 2018 winter sports, we can create a new market for the winter sports. We are 60 percent of the world's population in Asia. There is new growth, and new potential, so we can expand the winter sports market not only in Asia but globally, just to spread our new horizons and where the Olympic movement is."
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland, Germany, France, Korea, Republic of
  • City:
  • Country: Korea, Republic of France Switzerland Germany
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVADEDMUMBGSWCP8UG4P297V3Q98
  • Story Text: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will elect the winning city from the three bidders fighting for the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at its meeting in Durban on July 6.
    Pyeongchang in Souh Korea, France's Annecy and Germany's Munich are the candidates, with Pyeongchang bidding for the third straight time, after narrowly missing out on the 2010 and the 2014 Olympics.
    The three candidates have entered the final campaign stretch with no clear frontrunner emerging following the results of an International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation report published in May.
    It promises to be a close run contest between what IOC president Jacques Rogge considers to be three sound bids.
    "I think it's very close, don't ask me numbers it's going to be a close race definitely. I don't expect a big gap between the three cities," said Rogge in May.
    The IOC released its technical report on Pyeongchang, Munich and Annecy less than two months before the July 6 vote but stopped short of giving any one candidate the edge.
    Pyeongchang, which the report said could become a springboard to develop winter sports in Asia, came out on top in opinion polls conducted on site on behalf of the IOC, with 92 percent of city locals and 87 percent of South Koreans in favour of the Games being held there.
    Munich, which still has unresolved disputes with several land owners who refuse to release their properties for Olympic use, came second with 60 percent of Munich residents in favor of the Olympics, with Annecy scoring only 51 percent.
    Pyeongchang, which looks to have maintained their slight overall advantage throughout the two-year campaign, and Munich received high marks for their short travel times with the vast majority of athletes able to stay within 10 minutes of their competition venue.
    The South Korean bid was also praised for a "very compact concept." All their 13 proposed venues met or exceeded IOC spectator standards, the report said.
    Munich was told it would need to improve plans to sustain high national support in the seven year run-up to the Games, with the bid surviving a referendum in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, site of the skiing events, only two days ago.
    Annecy won marks for its comprehensive environmental plan and what the IOC called a "workable model for Olympic winter Games sustainability."
    The bid could, however, present some issues regarding accommodation. Annecy's accommodation plan was not as compact as their rivals which the report said would create "operational and financial challenges."
    Travel times were also longer than in the other two candidates.
    All three bids were rated as low risk in terms of security.
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