Claudia Bokel was in hot and muggy Acapulco, Mexico helping Munich press its claim for the 2018 Winter Olympics when Germany experienced some seasonal weather in keeping with the occasion.
“The funniest thing is that the first snow was falling,” the former Olympic fencer told The Associated Press yesterday. “It was a quite a good combination.”
Edgar Grospiron of the Annecy, France bid which is competing against Munich and Pyeongchang, South Korea, for right to host the 2018 Games, can claim synchronicity of a different kind. The former freestyle skier won a moguls gold medal for France at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, the last time the Olympics were held in his country.
All three cities will have 10-minute presentations to the Olympic Council of Asia today during the Asian Games.
The pitch at Acapulco during a meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees three weeks ago was the first of about seven presentations the bid cities will make to various Olympic and international sports groups. A secret vote will be held next 6 July in Durban, South Africa to decide the 2018 host city.
Officials from the Pyeongchang bid were maintaining a mostly low profile in Guangzhou ahead of Saturday’s presentation. Last week, the International Olympic Committee issued a warning to Pyeongchang and reminded the bid to “fully respect the rules of conduct” after two South Korean companies signed sponsorship deals with international sports federations headed by senior IOC members.
Munich’s bid, which has two-time Olympic gold medal figure skater Katarina Witt as chair of its team, has also had some problems.
Bavarian farmers are unhappy about giving up land to be used during the games, although Munich organisers said in Acapulco that the provincial issue was under control.
Munich is promising a compact games – a so-called “Two-Park” concept with minimal travelling time between two main sites – and pushing Germany’s passion for winter sports.
Annecy is also promising minimal traveling time between two major clusters – Annecy and nearby Chamonix, which is connected by a motorway and train service.
Grospiron says there would be separate athletes villages in each community, ensuring that 80 per cent of athletes were less than 10 minutes from their competition venues.