Twenty four hours from the vote and the three contestants rolled out powerful people to try and firm up the necessary support to win the ballot.

Pyeonchang from South Korea is represented by “Queen Yuna”. Well she is not really a queen but that is what the fans call Yuna Kim the reigning Olympic figure skating champion.

But they do have President Lee on hand in Durban.

Germany unleashed its Head of State, President Christian Wulff and the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, who has his “fingers crossed” and is happy because Munich “has done its best”.

The French town of Annecy is counting on the Prime Minister Francois Fillon. All of them spent the final hours of the contest lobbying International Olympic Committee  (IOC) members.

Their presence highlights the prestige that is associated with being chosen to host the Olympic Games. 

“We are in a hot phase” Seehofer said, “it all comes down to the final presentations”. For Munich two and a half years work goes on the line.

For Pyeongchang it has been 10 years of constant work after the disappointment of two failed bids.

There is not time to waste. Queen Yuna spent the morning skating with young South African children in an effort to impress the IOC.

 All three bids have a very strong emphasis on helping the youth of the world.

The Annecy bid by President Charles Beigbeder “wants to share its spectacular mountains, its hospitality and its passion for sport to inspire the world especially young people”.

Markus Wasmeier, a dual gold medallist from Lillehammer 1994 said the 2018 Games in Munich will “unite the nation and move young people”.

The Munich bid team say Bavaria is the “heartland of Winter sport” and there is overwhelming support throughout Germany for the Games.

Annecy has not been so fortunate. There have been demonstrations there by French residents who simply don’t want the Olympics in their town.

The Koreans ooze passion for the event. After all this is their third bid in a row. They aim to “create the most modern and sustainable winter sports hub in Asia to serve athletes for generations to come”.

Munich is first with its final presentation followed by Annecy and Pyeongchang. 102 members of the IOC are eligible to vote in a secret ballot.

Some here believe Pyeongchang will achieve the necessary 50% of votes in the first round and win comfortably.

If that does not happen the European IOC members are likely to support the remaining candidate from their region in the second round and make the vote close. 

Mike Tancred, AOC Media Director - in Durban