2014 Olympics Bids at Seoul Meetings

(ATR) Winter Olympic bids from Salzburg and Sochi are introducing new members of their teams at this week's Olympics meetings in Seoul, South Korea, while some others in the 2014 race are nearly invisible.

Salzburg's new CEO, Fedor Radmann, is making the rounds in Seoul, meeting with IOC President Jacques Rogge and other Olympic leaders, many of whom Radmann is acquainted with through his long career in sport marketing.

Radmann, an executive with World Cup 2006, will take over the Salzburg job in July, once his World Cup work is over.

Salzburg Mayor Heinz Schaden leads a six-strong delegation to this week's meetings in Seoul, matched in size by two of the other seven cities in the 2014 race, Sochi and PyeongChang.

PyeongChang Confident, Cautious

Gangwon Province Governor and leader of PyeongChang's 2014 bid, Jin Sun Kim tells Around the Rings that his group has been careful to abide by the rules of the IOC Ethics Commission this week, especially given the extra scrutiny his bid might face with the meetings taking place on home turf.

More than 500 Olympic leaders, from national Olympic committees, international sports federations and the IOC are in Seoul through Friday.

"They are all opinion leaders," Kim says.

While the organization of the events is the overall responsibility of the Korean Olympic Committee, Kim says a smooth-running week will help PyeongChang.

"This meeting will help the international image of Korea, to show the advantage of bringing the Olympics to PyeongChang."

Sochi's New Woman, Team Changes

Making her debut as a member of the Sochi team is Turin speed skating gold medalist Svetlana Zhurova, who is now director of athlete relations for the Russian Winter Olympic bid.

"I am so happy to do this," Zhurova tells Around the Rings in Seoul about this change following 25 years racing around ice ovals. She says Sochi, which was a training site for the Russian team ahead of Turin, offers athletes good weather conditions and especially important for speed skaters, sea-level terrain that obviates the need for altitude adjustments.

Meanwhile, Sochi CEO Dmitry Cherneshenko knocks back rumors of wholesale changes for the bid team, saying his job, as well as those of other key players are not in danger. While executive director Dmitry Svatkovsky is leaving the staff, he is stepping into a high-level government post and will continue to serve as an ambassador for the bid. Svatkovsky, a gold medalist in modern pentathlon, was also an executive with Moscow?s 2014 bid.

Jaca Mayor Leads Team in Seoul

Jaca Mayor Enrique Villaroya says this latest bid from his city for the Winter Games is now "a realistic candidature" compared to the one made for the 2010 Games which failed to reach the IOC short list.

Mayor for the past seven years, Villaroya tells Around the Rings the addition of Zaragosa, the capital of the Aragon region, has been the key to strengthening the Spanish bid.

"The whole region is in support of this campaign," says the mayor, who is accompanied in Seoul by the vice-governor of Huesca province, which includes the Olympic bid city, as well as Antonio Fernandez Arimany, managing director of the bid.

Also in Seoul are Spanish Olympic Committee President Alejandro Blanco and secretary general Victor Sanchez, who are attending the general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees.

Almaty, Borjomi and Sofia Remain Unknowns

Failing so far to make much out of the opportunity in Seoul to raise their profiles are Almaty, Borjomi and Sofia. While represented by NOC leaders at the ANOC meetings, no special efforts appear to have been made by any of them to engage their colleagues or the media on their Winter Games plans. Each bid was allowed up to six observers for the ANOC meetings, a quota none of the three were able to fill.

Your best source of news on the race for the 2014 Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.