OLYMPIC. The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to make its decision about the host city of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban (RSA) on Wednesday, 6th July 2011.

The vote is scheduled for 15.35-15.50 CET and the announcement ceremony of the host city for the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in 2018 for 17-17.30 CET. The IOC is offering live streaming through its website at www.olympic.org.

Few days before the decision, the candidates are launching their final efforts to convince the voting IOC members. On site in Durban, Annecy, Munich and PyeongChang are each going through rehearsals of the final presentations they will give on Wednesday. Some experts estimate that up to one-third of IOC members may be undecided going into the vote, making the right impression in the final presentation a key to victory.

The three cities plan press conferences as the IOC members arrive in Durban. Several members of the extended FIS family are on-site to play a role. FIS President Gian Franco Kasper is a member of the IOC, and is joined in South Africa by Secretary General Sarah Lewis.

The Annecy 2018 bids counts the French IOC member and Winter Olympic great Jean-Claude Killy into its support team while the bid team features former ski champions Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden and Jean-Pierre Vidal of France, who are both vice presidents, and also includes Antoine Dénériaz, 2006 downhill world champion, Perrine Pelen, 1980 & 1984 slalom medalist, and Florence Masnada, two time Olympic medalist, as part its team.

The Munich 2018 bid is led by Katarina Witt, the figure skating champion and also counts on the support of Olympic champion Maria Höfl-Riesch who is in Durban. "For me it was self-explanatory that I am on site. It is my greatest dream to have the Games in Munich in 2018, even if I may not be competing then anymore," she said.

The 2018 PyeongChang Bid Committee is chaired by Mr. Yang Ho Cho who's Chairman and CEO of Korean Air. Pyeongchang is bidding for a third consecutive time after narrow defeats for the 2010 and 2014 Games, and if elected would become the first Asian city outside Japan to host the Winter Games.

The bids also receive on-site support from the highest political levels. For Munich, Federal President Christian Wulff is in Durban, as is Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich and Minister President of Bavaria Horst Seehofer. For Pyeongchang President Lee Myung Bak offers his on-site support and for Annecy 2018, France's premier minister Francois Fillon provides his lobbying power.

FISalpine.com
Monday 4 July 2011