French 2020 Olympic Bid Likely if Annecy Misses Out on 2018

(ATR) French sports minister Chantal Jouanno expects France to bid for the 2020 Olympics if Annecy fails in its efforts to secure the 2018 Winter Games.

"If we win the Winter Games in 2018, we won't be a candidate. But if we don't win, probably, because it has been too much time that France didn't organize an Olympic Games," she told a small group of reporters in Annecy over the weekend.

Jouanno declined to say if Paris was the most likely French city to be pitched into the 2020 Olympic bid race if Annecy's bid was unsuccessful, adding "many cities would like this".

She did confirm that for the country's next Olympic bid, considerable changes would be made in setting up the candidacy to give France a headstart in the bidding contest. She hinted that they could prevent a repeat of the internal problems that led to the departure of Annecy's former CEO Edgar Grospiron in December.

"We don't have a clear international strategy, so we will create an international office or agency," she said.

"Today, it's [French IOC member] Guy Drut in charge of the international office for this bid and so we will continue after because we need it. We need to be more professional."

Her comments came Saturday at the end of the IOC Evaluation Commission's four-day inspection of the small Alpine town located next to Lake Annecy.

Jouanno said France's other IOC member Jean-Claude Killy had already made a vital contribution "because he has personal relationships with most of the members of the IOC commission.

"He gave us the right keys to understand how the commission is thinking. One important point is we must show our willingness and humility," she said.

"It is a very simple, humble and true bid. Here, we are not trying to put stars in your eyes, we just want to show you [the IOC and visitors] our mountains."

Jouanno: Quitting Was Not an Option

Turning to the bid's budgetary struggles and internal rows in recent months, Jouanno admitted that Annecy had suffered from poor organization of the candidacy. She said state and political leaders initially took a hands-off role because they were "responsible for the failure of Paris" for the 2012 Games.

Jouanno claimed it had been tough to find a new leader to replace Grospiron in a difficult few months for Annecy. But she insisted there was never a moment when she wondered whether it was worth continuing.

"Many people told me at this time we should resign because we had a bad mark in June," she said. "I had many, many difficulties to find someone to take the lead on this bid.

"This was impossible [to quit the bid race] because we had already spent about 18 million euros ($24.3 million), which is a lot of money. We would have been the only country resigning just six months before the end, and this is not the sports spirit. In sport, you are just competing until the end even with an injury," she added.

Asked by Around the Rings if Annecy 2018 now had enough money to compete with rivals Munich and Pyeongchang in the cash-draining last five months of international campaigning and lobbying, she conceded: "We don't yet have a budget big enough.

"Now we are at 21 million euros ($28.4 million) and I think we are going to reach about 25 million euros ($33.8 million). What is obvious is that it will be private money.

"Now companies are coming back because they see the candidacy is trustworthy," she said, adding that they were banks and big national companies.

"No Strong Criticism" from IOC

Commenting on the IOC's inspection visit, she claimed Annecy was on par with its rivals, after coming back from what she described as "a bad note in June" from the IOC, who criticized the spaced-out venue plan and deemed it virtually unmanageable.

"The commission said they were quite impressed by the technical quality of the bid. They appreciate the sites of the venues and obviously by the Alps," Jouanno said

"I asked many of them what were the weak points of the bid and there was no strong criticism. They said 'It's good, we are impressed by the work you have done in a few months.'"

She claimed Annecy 2018 now had to step up its international promotional work.

"We have a good bid. Now the point is to have every [IOC] voter know it," she said.

"We have spent a lot of time on the technical bid, so now it's time to communicate and promote it and we have a good team ... a team with athletes and they have a key role. We want them to go to other countries and promote the candidacy."

Speaking of her own role for the bid in the five months leading up to the IOC vote in Durban, Jouanno said: "I am going to do what they want me to do. If they [the bid] want me to go anywhere, to Lausanne, London, Durban I will do it." She said she will definitely be in Durban for the IOC vote.

The IOC commission arrived in Pyeongchang on Monday and begins its four-day inspection of the Korean bid on Wednesday.

Written by Mark Bisson