Bidding for the Games: Annecy 2018 Chief on the Road

(ATR) Like his rivals in the race for the 2018 Olympics, Annecy bid chief Charles Beigbeder is on the road to promote the bid. He spoke to ATR last week from the Nordic World Champs in Oslo.

Beigbeder follows his visit to Oslo with a trip to the Global Sports Forum in Barcelona this week, whichrepresentatives fromMunich and PyeongChang also are expected.

Named in early January to head the Annecy campaign, Beigbeder says the bid has made what he calls a "relaunch" after the controversial resignation of Edgar Grospiron as CEO.

"We have made a lot of progress. We have a road map to Durban," he says. "We are now in the preparation of the election. The focus is clearly on international. We want to reach as many IOC members as we can."

Beigbeder highlights SportAccord the first week of April as the place where Annecy will make its debut following January’s leadership changes.

"I think we should take care to show that we are well-prepared, organized, keen and professional. It will be an important event for us in terms of communication," he continues.

But May 17-16 may be the most important dates on the calendar, Beigbeder says, referring to the technical briefing for IOC members taking place in Lausanne.

The technical briefing – the first to be held for a winter bid – will follow by one week the release of the report from the IOC Evaluation Commission. In 2009, the first technical briefing for an Olympic bid – the 2016 campaign – is believed to have provided a surge of momentum for the Rio de Janeiro bid.

"Lausanne will be very, very important. The real presentation is in Lausanne ,in fact. If we want to win the Games, we need their trust. It is the main event we have to prepare for, clearly," he says.

Guiding Beigbeder, who had little Olympic experience before taking this job, is what he calls a "strategy council" comprised of Jean-Claude Killy, Guy Drut, Jean Pierre Vidal, French NOC President Denis Masseglia, Havas CEO Lucien Boyer and international consultant Andrew Craig.

Beigbeder would not disclose the results of IOC public opinion polling regarding the Annecy bid, saying it’s confidential information. Poll data submitted with Annecy’s candidature file in January 2011 indicate 74 percent of those surveyed in the region where the Games would be held are in favor of the 2018 Olympics.

But perhaps foreshadowing a falloff in support that might have been revealed in the IOC polling, Beigbeder says that public opinion should be increasing now that a difficult period is over for Annecy 2018.

"At the end of the year we had a difficult period, so we should be careful of the measurements of the support of the population before this relaunch.

"There will be polling in the weeks ahead. Since the beginning of the year and the IOC visit, and strong government support, we feel a new dynamic that is very positive."

Written by Ed Hula.