Milan Bid Chief Touts Public Support

(ATR) Milan-Cortina bid chief Gianni Malago tells Around the Rings public and government support in Italy will play a big role in the final presentation to the IOC coming in 48 hours.

The bid from Italy and one from Stockholm-Are are the two contenders for the IOC vote June 24 in Lausanne. Both bids scored well in the IOC evaluation and are considered to be in a too close to call race.

Malago, IOC member in Italy and president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, leads a team of about 100 who will be on hand this weekend to support the final hours of the campaign. Stockholm will have a similar number of supporters and both bids will include their respective prime ministers.

Malago tells ATR that support in Italy by the government is a result of strong public enthusiasm for a Winter Olympics.

"What is unbelievable, not just for me, but the whole community is the support of the bid… 80 percent of the population is in favor of the Games, 83 percent in the region and 87 percent in the city of Milano. This is one of the facts that has convinced all the institutions of the country to support the bid," Malago says.

‘Speaking about Milano Cortina, we have guarantees for everything. Financial, security, visas, venues, villages, regional governments, municipalities. The Italian government. It was not initially their position. Now it is guaranteed. This is a success for the quality of the bid," he tells ATR.

Malago also mentioned the endorsement of U.S. ski greatLindsey Vonn. The three-time Olympian took to social media this week to express her love of the alpine venues in Italy. Malago says French biathlete Martin Fourcade is also backing the Italian bid.

The delegation from Milan is planned to include 16 Olympians, from both Winter and Summer Games. Alberto Tomba is among them, but there still is uncertainty whether he will be able to make the trip to Switzerland.

Athletes in the Stockholm delegation represent 20 Olympic medals and include hockey stars Peter Forsberg and Jonas Bergqvist. Business leaders from famous Swedish brands such as Volvo will help pitch for Stockholm at the IOC Session. Crown Princess Victoria will speak during the final presentation.

The two bids represent the latest efforts from Sweden and Italy to land a summer or winter Olympics. While both nations have the infrastructure and sports heritage needed to stage an Olympics, public and government support has been a challenge to coordinate in Italy and Sweden. So far, Milan and Stockholm have cleared that obstacle in this race.

Gathering some 45 votes Monday at the IOC Session will be the ultimate test of support for the Italian and Swedish contenders.

Reported in Lausanne by Ed Hula.