New Annecy VP Touts "Winning Team"; Early Confidence for Rome 2020

New Annecy VP: "Winning Team" In Place

Annecy 2018's new vice president Jean-Pierre Vidal tells Around the Rings the Winter Olympic bid has the right blend in its new leadership structure to mount a real challenge to rivals Munich and PyeongChang.

"We are working all together now. We have a winning team," Vidal told ATR on Monday.

"We have one president and two vice-presidents and this is really important for the future. We have a good plan with a new strategy so everything is possible."

Vidal, a slalom gold medalist at the 2002 Salt Lake Games, and Pernilla Wiberg, the Swedish two-time Alpine skiing gold medalist, were unveiled as VPs when French businessman Charles Beigbeder was appointed as the new CEO of the bid earlier this month.

Vidal said the new strategy centers on athletes who would help showcase Annecy's reworked venues plan to the IOC Evaluation Commission visiting Feb. 9 to 12. IOC criticism last June forced French bid leaders to deliver a more compact plan.

"For sure we think we have a really good technical bid. The most important thing is that it provides the best conditions for athletes and we will show that to the evaluation commission."

Vidal said this week was devoted to finetuning plans to welcome the IOC commission led by Swedish IOC member Gunilla Lindberg.

The new-look leadership team would spend a chunk of the week in Annecy rehearsing presentations, he said.

"There will be a lot of surprises for the evaluation commission," he added.

Before the crucial IOC inspection comes the Men's Alpine World Cup in Chamonix Mont-Blanc this weekend. Vidal sees it as another great opportunity for Annecy to make a noise about its Olympic bid.

"It is very important because there will be some important people there," Vidal said, remarking that skiing teachers and ski resort managers on Mont-Blanc were united behind the bid.

Winter sports fans will be offered free public transportation to the mountain venue, an initiative that aims to send a strong message to the IOC about the transport element of the bid.

"All the infrastructure is here," Vidal said.

French IOC member Guy Drut is scheduled to play a lead role in Annecy 2018's promotional activities at the Asian Winter Games in Astana-Almaty, Kazakhstan, Vidal confirmed.

Annecy Sets Sail with Latest Partner

Annecy 2018’s newest partner is carrying the bid’s message quite literally across the globe.

The world’s largest off-shore racing trimaran will sport the bid city’s Olympic logo on its mast throughout a record-breaking circumnavigation attempt during the ongoing Jules Verne Trophy race.

"I am very proud to be able to carry the hopes of Annecy 2018 around the world," Maxi Banque Populaire V skipper Pascal Bidégorry said in a statement before setting sail Saturday.

"I hope that we can, in our own way, contribute to the realization of the wonderful event that the 2018 Winter Olympics in Annecy would be".

Already a partner to France’s NOC, Banque Populaire is also supporting Annecy‘s bid during the run-up to the IOC’s July 6 host decision in Durban.

Meanwhile, Bidégorry and his crew are trying to break the circumnavigation record of 48 days, 7 hours and 45 minutes set early last year by fellow French yachtsman Franck Cammas.

Italian NOC Chief Confident About Rome 2020

Giovanni Petrucci likes Rome’s chances of winning hosting rights to the 2020 Summer Olympics.

"We’re moving forward with our candidacy and we’re very confident," the Italian NOC president told The Associated Press on Monday after discussing the bid with IOC president Jacques Rogge during recent meetings in Lausanne.

Petrucci also said Rogge was excited about the Italian capital’s candidacy.

So far, Rome is the only city to formally launch a bid for 2020.

Durban, South Africa’s city of choice, also has NOC backing but awaits government approval.

The Japanese Olympic Committee is encouraging interest from both Tokyo and Hiroshima.

India’s NOC is still debating with its government whether to pursue an Olympic-sized follow-up to the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Other bids for 2020 could come fromBudapest, Istanbul, Madrid and the Middle East.

"Each candidate has advantages and disadvantages," Petrucci told AP.

The bidding contest gets underway in earnest after the election of the 2018 Winter Olympic host city at the IOC Session in Durban on July 6.

The deadline for applicant city nominations from NOCs is Sept. 1.

Written by Mark Bisson and Matthew Grayson

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