On the Scene Coverage - PyeongChang Confident After 2018 Olympics Pitch

(ATR) PyeongChang 2018 leaders say they have done a "great job" in communicating their bid concept to IOC members at Wednesday's bid cities briefing in Lausanne.

The Korean bid was the last of the three cities vying for the 2018 Games to take the platform. Annecy and Munich also gave 45-minute presentations earlier Wednesday.

IOC members got the chance to quiz each of the bids in the Q&A sessions that followed their pitches; a total of 24 questions were asked.

PyeongChang bid chairman Yang Ho Cho was satisfied with the day's work.

"I am not in a position to judge whether we improved our position, but we have full confidence," he said. "I am not in a position to say we are better or worse - but we did our best.

"We stuck to our message, New Horizons."

On the contribution of Yu Na Kim, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic figure skating champion, he said: "I am delighted Yu Na attended our presentation. She is our ambassador, presenting our new horizons."

Korean foreign minister Sung Hwan Kim told reporters that he felt the bid had done "a great job".

"We addressed all the questions from IOC members so I am confident we will have good results from here," he said.

Among the handful of questions, none focused on South Korea's strained relations with North Korea nor the sometimes volatile security situation between the countries.

"IOC members are comfortable about the situation, that’s why," Kim said.

Also part of the Korean team were IOC members Kun-Hee Lee and Dae-Seong Moon, Yong Sung Park, president of the Korean Olympic Committee, Byungnam Lee, the bid's director of planning and communications director Theresa Rah. President of Korea Myung Bak Lee addressed IOC members through a recorded video message.

Several IOC members told Around the Rings that PyeongChang had performed well; 88 members were at the briefing.

British IOC member Craig Reedie told reporters that PyeongChang's third bid for an Olympics could be an advantage, although he refused to single out a frontrunner.

"If it is your third bid in a row, people know you and have seen the bid," Reedie said.

Reedie singled out Yu Na Kim's speech for particular praise, saying her presentation in faultless English for the bid "was a bit special".

Noting that PyeongChang had developed "a new center for winter sports in Asia" as a result of its three bids, he said the city had a right to say "it's our turn now... that's a valid position to have".

Reedie described all three bid pitches as "outstanding". He said Munich was "on message" in its presentations, adding that Annecy "have come a long way from a difficult start".

"It really is all to play for. It's a really difficult choice," he added.

Singaporean IOC member Ser Miang NG told ATR that he was impressed with PyeongChang's performance.

After briefings from all three bids, he said: "I don't think there is really anyone who is leading at the moment [in the bid race]. They all did good presentations.

"I think there will be a lot members will do to digest the bid presentations."

Patrick Baumann, IOC member from Switzerland, dismissed the assertion that PyeongChang or any other bid was leading the race for 2018. "But they have done a good presentation, prepared well and had their answers ready," he told ATR.

Prince Willem Alexander, IOC member from the Netherlands, said he would use his experience of working on IOC evaluation and coordination commissions for Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Sochi to inform questions to the bids at the briefing sessions on Thursday.

"What is impressive is, having been there [PyeongChang] in 2003 as part of the IOC Evaluation Commission, they have actually delivered a lot of their promises such as the Dream Program and the ski jump," he told ATR. "They have increased the number of [summer and winter] tourists."

IOC members have the opportunity to get more information on the technical aspects of the three cities and question bid leaders at the bid exhibitions at the Lausanne Palace Hotel.

"I will look at the facts and take time to visit the presentations tomorrow," said the Prince.

Written and reported in Lausanne by Mark Bisson