Jean-Claude Killy: Annecy 2018 is "Back in the Race"

(ATR) French IOC member Jean-Claude Killy believes Annecy has a good chance of winning the 2018 Winter Olympics after overcoming its leadership and budget troubles and showcasing its strengths to the IOC Evaluation Commission.

"I would say Annecy is back in the race," Killy told a media roundtable late Friday at the IOC's hotel on the banks of Lake Annecy.

"Annecy lost a lot of time but I am fairly optimistic that it is not a big problem because there is still five months to go to make the bid known, to meet the right people and show them what we think and our hopes," he said, acknowledging the impact of the departure of former bid CEO Edgar Grospiron and a row over budget concerns in December.

In a candid interview with reporters, Killy virtually admitted Annecy had struggled from the outset in March 2009 due to a poorly conceived, spread-out venues plan that he claimed made it "almost unmanageable to organise decent Games". Lack of government support in that period also knocked the bid.

"On June 22 we got a black eye from the IOC," he explained, referencing the hammering the bid's venue plan received in an IOC report last summer. That criticism forced a complete rethink of the venue concept.

"We made a lot of changes after that, most notably geographical. We cut some resorts, we brought events closer to Annecy and put more emphasis on Chamonix."

Killy appeared upbeat about Annecy's chances in the bid race with Munich and Pyeongchang following the IOC Evaluation Commission's four-day visit.

"My feeling after the visit is very positive. We have come along way," he said ."Our government has improved quite a bit, not because of the people but because of the clarity of the disposition of the hierarchy.

"Champions and former [Olympic] champions are heavily involved in it, not only for their names but for their talent, their competence, their experience and they are using it and the commission has seen that."

Killy emphasised the importance of the IOC's meeting with French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday.

"It's very impressive for France to see the Prime Minister welcoming the evaluation commission, with five or more ministers," he said.

"When you get guarantees from a state like France you get guarantees. I have lived through it and used it. I have organised a world championship and was in charge of nine Tour de France and I know how this system works.

"It is a disaster if this [government ministers meeting the IOC] doesn't happen. It is going to happen in Korea, heavily, and in Germany I am sure."

Killy's role with the Annecy bid in the coming months appears less clear-cut. Although he is a member of the Annecy board, his comments suggested he will not be committing a huge amount of time to promoting the French bid internationally as the campaign intensifies.

The triple Olympic skiingchampion at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics must combine his role as head of the IOC's Sochi 2014 coordination commission with work for the Annecy bid.

Asked if he was devoting more time to Annecy, he said: "I have to split my time smartly between the two.

"I have my own business, I have Sochi for fun. I am choosing my work properly

"I will help Annecy as much as I can because I am from this region."

He said French IOC member Guy Drut would be taking the lead for the bid in international campaigning.

Speaking about the pluses and drawbacks of the bid, Killy said: "We know our strong points and a couple of weaknesses. There is no perfect bid. I have been in the business for 30 years."

He admitted that accommodations was one the biggest issues of concern for the IOC.

"Accommodations is not that easy because there are not too many rooms in the Annecy region. That is a problem, let's face it," he told reporters, adding that a couple of new hotels would be built."

Killy was keen to leave the bid's struggles behind, with just five months to go in the bid race before the IOC vote at the Session in Durban on July 6.

Asked to recall the problems with the original venue plan that threatened to derail the bid at an early stage in the campaign, he said: "It's the past so we shouldn't speak too much about it.

"I was totally against it because I know as a former organizer and head of the coordination commission for the last few Games, except Vancouver, I knew it was not workable. You cannot have 17 sites, or something like that," he said. "It was way too spread out."

"To start with it was a more politically-oriented bid than a sports-oriented bid. And you cannot please everyone in that business," he said. "You have to know what you want if you want to get the Games. You have to step on a few toes and we know how to do that."

He was quick to praise the contribution of former bid CEO Edgar Grospiron. "I really miss him because in seven or eight months he did a wonderful job."

As for his replacement, Charles Beigbeder, who was appointed last month, Killy said: "I don't know him very well. I have seen him two days and that's all. He brings private sector expertise and that's fairly good. He's going to manage it."

Asked if Annecy's current bid budget was sufficient to compete at the same level as Munich and Pyeongchang, Killy said: "I don't know. I am not inside enough to know. I am told yes and they are working to improve the budget, so we have to be confident."

The IOC Evaluation Commission chair Gunilla Lindberg and Olympic Games executive director will give their assessment on the four-day inspection visit at a press conference at 17.30 CET.

Reported from Annecy by Mark Bisson