Olympic Newsdesk - Munich Ambassadors, Mountain Bikes in Oz, Greenspan's Beijing Documentary

Olympic Stars Join Munich 2018 Bid

(ATR) Munich 2018 bid chiefs unveil a list of 60 ambassadors who will play leading roles in the two-year campaign to land the Winter Games. A major new sponsor is expected to be announced next week, with a new bid logo and website following in October.

Between them, the roster of Olympians boast 171 Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals from summer and winter Games.

The group includes three-time Olympic gold medalist Kati Wilhelm, double Olympic gold medalists Erhard Keller and Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth, Olympic champion Dieter Thoma and three-time Paralympic champion Verena Bentele.

Bernhard Schwank, joint managing director of Munich 2018, said the collective medal haul showed the quality of the bid ambassadors.

Speaking at the announcement Monday, he said their job would be “to inspire true passion for Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Germany, to activate all fans of winter sports for the Munich bid, to embody the idea of the Munich bid at events and during conversations."

In July, two-time Olympic figure-skating gold medalist Katarina Witt was announced as the face of Munich's bid for the 2018 Winter Games. The 43-year-old now chairs the 23-member board of trustees, which includes German football legend Franz Beckenbauer and former Olympic skiing champion Rosi Mittermaier.

In the Munich bid plan, Olympiapark is the site of the ice cluster with the athletes’ village built right next to it. The snow cluster of venues is planned for Garmisch-Partenkirchen, site of the 1936 Winter Games. Bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions will be held in Koenigssee.

BMW became the bid’s first major partner over the summer in a deal worth around $7 million. Three more top tier sponsors are due to be announced shortly.

Munich hopes to become the first city to host both the summer and winter Games; it staged the 1972 summer Olympics.

Annecy, France and Pyeongchang, South Korea are the only other cities confirmed for the 2018 bid race. Chinese Olympic Committee officials are considering a bid with the city of Harbin. The bid process officially opens next month shortly after the Oct.2 vote on the 2016 Summer Olympic host city. The IOC will choose the 2018 host at its session in Durban, South Africa in July 2011.

World Champs Roundup- Mountain Biking concludes; Archery, Boxing and Rhythmic Gymnastics in full-swing

The 2009 UCI Mountain Switzerland’s Nick Beer drops into the into the 'Rock Garden' duringthe elite men's downhill final at the UCI Mountain Bike WorldChampionships. (Getty Images)Bike and Trials World Championships concluded on Sunday at Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra, Australia. An estimated 40 thousand fans saw the six-day event. Mike Turtur, a member of the UCI Board of Management, called the world championships an “unqualified success.”

France was first on the medal table with three golds, five silvers and three bronzes followed. Spain finished second with three golds, two silvers and two bronze followed by Australia with two golds, one sliver and two bronzes.

This is the final week of the 2009 AIBA World Champions, taking place in Milan. Quarter final rounds will take place over the next two days, with Wednesday a rest day. Final bouts are Sep. 10 to 12.

AIBA media director Richard Baker tells Around the Rings that the fully open scoring is being well receieved. He says no protests have been filed over the past eight days of boxing.

In Ulsan, Korea, the 45th World Archery Championships will conclude Wednesday. More than 730 archers from about 80 countries are in the 11-day competition at the Ulsan Munsco International Archery Field.

September is a busy month for archery. On Sept. 16, archers will gather in Latina, Italy, for the World Archery Championships 3D.

The Rhythmic Gymnastic World Championships are also underway at Tokyo’s Mie Prefectural Sun Arena. The championships started on Sept. 7 and finish on Sunday. There are athletes from 50 countries including 2008 Olympic gold-medalist Yevgeniya Kanayeva of Russian and 2007 World Champion Anna Bessonova of Ukraine.

Bud Greenspan Beijing Olympics