(ATR) IOC members in Australia and Africatell Around the Rings they think the race for 2018 is wide open.
Speaking to ATR, Phil Coles, IOC member in Australia, says the three candidates are all good, which leads to difficulty in picking the front runner.
"One minute there is a favorable climate for one city and then it goes to another one," he said. "I think all three are presenting themselves in a wonderful way."
Beatrice Allen, Gambia IOC member, echoes his sentiment.
"Any one of them can win," she tells ATR.
"All three cities are very good".
Coles added that the three bids –Annecy, France; PyeongChang, South Korea and Munich –have all made their jobs harder for themselves.
"I think they’ve got a problem because they were so well presented in Lausanne," Coles said, referencing the bid cities briefing held at IOC headquarters May 17-18.
Topping, or even matching, that presentation at the IOC Session in Durban will be tough, he said. The IOC selects a 2018 host at that meeting.
When asked to handicap the race and say who he thought is the leading candidate, Coles said he couldn’t do it.
"The winter Olympics are hard to gauge as you can imagine," he said. "There are some parts of the world that have never seen snow and ice."
He does have just a little bit of experience. Coles joined the IOC in 1982 and has voted in more than a dozen host decisions.
Coles said he has "not necessarily" made up his mind which city he will vote for.
Allen, who will vote on her third Olympic host, likewise says she has yet to make up her mind. She said her two previous votes taught her that the process is unpredictable.
"I think that normally there is a twist. You go to the vote and the decision is made in the second half," she said, referencing the time following the final bid pitches.
Intense lobbying and publicity stunts are carried out in the days leading to the IOC decision. On the day of the vote, bids make what they hope will be a compelling argument for their cities, then wait for Jacques Rogge’s announcement of the winner.
This year, that announcement comes July 6.
Until then, the bid cities will continue so state their cases to Allen, Coles and the more than 100 remaining IOC members.
Written by Ed Hula III.
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