If perseverance counts, South Korea will win the right to host the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. This is their third bid in eight years and after losing twice they are determined to win this time.
If perseverance counts, South Korea will win the right to host the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. This is their third bid in eight years and after losing twice they are determined to win this time.
To make it third time lucky for Pyeongchang they must overcome the Europeans - the French town of Annecy and the German city of Munich.
Munich has a vote winner in dual Olympic champion ice skater Katarina Witt. Witt’s brilliant smile and irresistible charm were on display as the bid cities presented to the delegates at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Acapulco, Mexico.
She charmed the socks off them!
Witt promised a “festival of friendship” if Munich won. She was supported by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who sent a video message saying: “Sport moves people. Not only individuals but societies.”
Annecy was not without its female superstar. They wheeled out a video message from model and singer Carla Bruni, the wife of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
They are seen as the outsiders at this point despite offering venues at the world renowned resort of Chamonix. The IOC members will vote to decide the host city for 2018 at their next session in Durban in July 2011.
In the meantime the Pyeongchang will continue to work hard in true Korean style to get the Games. They have invested $1.5B in the resort so far and have the full support of their Federal Government.
Mike Tancred in Acapulco
AOC
