Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (r), meets Guatemalan IOC member Willi Kaltschmitt. (ATR)
(ATR) Austrian Prime Minister Alfred Gusenbauer is the first of three heads of state to arrive in Guatemala ahead of the IOC vote for the host of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
He’ll be joined in the coming days by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and South Korea’s Moo Hyun Roh.
The Austrian leader will be able to participate in Sunday’s round of rehearsals for the final presentations that the teams from PyeongChang, Salzburg and Sochi will make July 4 to the IOC Session.
The rehearsals have been a daily routine for three days at the convention center at the Westin Camino Real. Each day the teams of presenters grow with arrivals in Guatemala.
Arriving Saturday were Salzburg Mayor Heinz Schaden, Governor Gabbi Burgstaller and luge legend Georg Hackl.
From Sochi, deputy prime minister Alexander Zhukov, sports minister Vachyslav Fetisov and IOC members Alexander Popov and Vitaly Smirnov Olympic luge great Georg Hackl is part of the Salzburg bid team. (ATR)are now on the scene.
PyeongChang bid president and Gangwon Province Governor Jin Sun Kim arrived Friday night and was able to take part in Saturday’s round of practice.
Kim tells Around the Rings he is much more confident for the bid four years after coming in second to Vancouver in the election Security is tightened around the hotels for the IOC Session. (ATR)for the 2010 race.
“Although we actually lost our bid four years ago we have delivered on our commitments and put our plans into action. So right now we are coming up with a more improved and more compact concept,” says Kim.
As has been the case throughout the campaign, the Sochi public relations campaign remains in high gear, with a roller skate event featuring Evgeny Plushenko and Svetlana Zhurova, better known for their ice skating prowess.
Security has now been stepped-up for the IOC meetings with the streets in front of the main hotels blocked from regular traffic and a sizeable presence of police and bomb-sniffing dogs. Metal detectors are now being used for entrance to the hotels and credentials must be worn.
On Sunday, the IOC Executive Board begins two days of meetings ahead of the IOC Session.
On the scene coverage of the IOC meetings in Guatemala continues throughout the week at www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.
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