Updated - Rome 2020 Olympic Bid Selects International Consultant

(ATR) Rome acts first among the 2020 Olympic bids to hire an international consultant.

Atlanta-based Helios Partners is the choice of Rome 2020 to help prepare the Olympic bid. Helios is the first of the leading bid consultant firms to reach an agreement among the six cities applying to bid for 2020.

"We are very happy to be working with Rome," Helios president Terrence Burns tells Around the Rings.

"They were the first city to announce for the 2020 race and we were impressed by the bid leadership's passion and commitment to the Olympic Movement; the iconic assets of the city and its remarkable sports sustainability story will provide a plan that is fiscally responsible and truly sustainable, a model for Games to come."

Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo are the cities in the six-strong field for 2020.

"The primary objective of the Rome 2020 bid is to strengthen and support the Olympic Movement, and we believe that Helios, with its depth of knowledge and experience in the Movement, is a significant addition to our existing team," said Ernesto Albanese, Rome 2020 managing director, in a statement to ATR.

"Helios will serve in the role as lead consultant and have responsibilities across a broad array of bid activities including helping us establish the Rome 2020 brand positioning and messaging, assisting with the development and production of our Applicant and Candidature Files, preparing our team for all presentations to the Olympic Family and the international sports community, and general bid strategy consultation," said Albanese.

Helios, formed by Olympic marketing experts Terrence Burns and Chris Welton, most recently worked on successful Winter Olympic bids from PyeongChang and Sochi as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup bid from Russia.

"We are pleased to have a great partner like Helios onboard for Rome 2020. Their reputation within the Olympic Movement makes them a perfect fit for our existing, excellent team," said Mario Pescante, Roma 2020 president and IOC member.

Pescante says the bid from Rome builds on the legacy from the 1960 Games.

"The Olympic Games of Rome 1960 were a Games of many firsts and 60 years later, we think our plans for Rome 2020 will be just as innovative. In these difficult economic times, Rome 2020 has a unique opportunity to strengthen the Olympic Movement by proposing a responsible and creative Games plan that is both fiscally and socially sustainable, buildingupon our existing world-class sports and tourism infrastructure which we have continued to invest in and improve upon for years.

It is our hope that Rome 2020 can be a blueprint for a return to fiscal responsibility and true sustainability in the Olympic bidding process," said Pescante.

Talks between the other bids and consultants are said to be underway. Cities need to file their first dossier for the 2020 race in early 2012. The IOC will select a group of finalists for the contest next May. The IOC vote for 2020 is set for September 2013.

Written by Ed Hula.

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