2018 Bids Enter Last Week of Campaign With Africa Appeal

Bids Head to Africa

Annecy, Munich and PyeongChang will each have 20 minutes to make their pitches to the delegates at the general assembly for the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa. ANOCA membership numbers 53 countries that include 15 IOC members from Africa.

It’s the last chance for the bid cities to campaign ahead of the IOC vote July 6 in Durban, South Africa.

The Annecy group is led by CEO Charles Beigbeder and also includes vice president Jean Pierre Vidal and French NOC president Denis Masseglia.

"This event is a reminder of how much all of Africa has contributed to the Olympic Movement over the years and how much, in return, sport has contributed to development on the continent," says Beigbeder, who calls the Lome visit "the last lap" in the campaign.

The team from Annecy may feel at home in Togo, one of 15 or so Francophone nations on the continent. On Wednesday, Beigbeder and Vidal will pay a visit to a Lome French school as part of the Annecy educational program.

Munich is represented by bid chair Katarina Witt, German NOC president Thomas Bach and bid CEO Bernhard Schwank.

Look for the Munich bid to pitch its plans to offer support from the German NOC to African NOCs in summer and winter sports. A release from Munich 2018 says as many as 700 coaches and sports scientists would receive scholarships to German universities in the lead-up to 2018. (Historical note: Togoland, as it was known more than a century ago, was a German protectorate before becoming a French colony, a status that ended in 1960.)

The PyeongChang delegation is led by bid chair Yang Ho Cho. He is accompanied by Korean Olympic Committee president Yong Sung Park, communications director Teresa Rah and figure skating gold medalist Yu Na Kim.

Kim, 21, made her first formal appearance on behalf of the bid last month at the IOC technical briefing in Lausanne. Speaking to reporters Sunday as she left Seoul to go to Togo, Kim said she has been diligently rehearsing her remarks to ANOCA.

"I did this in Lausanne and I am not as nervous now. It has become easier for me."

Munich Opponents Attack IOC Contract

The persistent opposition to the Munich Olympic bid is raising questions about whether the host city contract between the IOC and the winner of the 2018 race can legally be signed by Lord Mayor ChristianUde.

The 17-page statement says the obligations imposed by the contract are outside the scope of the mayor’s remit. Opponents also say the IOC imposes requirements that the city cannot legally fulfill.

All three cities have been provided with copies of the IOC contract so that they are ready to sign the document after the July 6 vote.

Women’s World Cup Said to Show German Love of Sport

Munich 2018 chair Katarina Witt says record-breaking interest in the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany is a sign of things to come.

A crowd of nearly 74,000, a European record for women's football, filled the Olympic Stadium in Berlin for Sunday’s match between Germany and Canada.

"Munich 2018's Festival of Friendship will have exactly the sameenergizing effect on every sport on the Winter Games program," Witt said in a statement.

Korean Leader Bound for Durban

Korean president Myung Bak Lee arrives in Durban on Saturday for the last-minute campaign of the PyeongChang bid. Lee will be part of the final presentation from the bid July 6 to the IOC. From Durban, Lee will visit two other African countries: Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

Korean Air Hosts Charity Drive for Tanzania

Korean Air, a major sponsor of PyeongChang 2018, held an "Open Café" last weekend to raise money for charity while promoting the bid. The event benefited United Help for International Children, which provides aid to children in Tanzania.

Annecy Ambassadors in Spotlight

With just over a week to go before the IOC vote for 2018, Annecy rolls out the first in a series of endorsements from its athlete supporters.

Tour de France cyclist and Olympian Thomas Voeckler says he has followed the Olympics since he was a child in Guadeloupe.

"I always watched the Olympic Games on television. In 2004, I took part in the Athens Olympic Games. I have some truly unique memories of that time," he said in a statement.

"Hosting the Olympic Games in France means having the chance to experience this incredible atmosphere for two weeks. I know the Alps well... both in summer and winter. I really appreciate the sense of hospitality and the welcome you receive in Annecy and its surrounding region, and the landscape, needless to say, is stunning."

Written by Ed Hula.