The three bid cities for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, PyeongChang, Salzburg and Sochi, made 15-minute presentations at the SportAccord conference in Beijing Wednesday in front of a distinguished audience from the international sporting community.
PyeongChang 2014 announced the development of its Dream Program which from 2015 will include a “World Youth Winter Sports Festival” enabling the further expansion of winter sports to the younger generation around the world.
Minister of Culture and Tourism, Kim Myung-gon, explained the Korean Government’s comprehensive plan to foster winter sports and reconfirmed their strong support of the bid.
Chairman Han Seung-soo emphasized how the strong sporting passion of the Korean citizens was a contributing force to the successful hosting of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Summer Games and 2002 FIFA World Cup. He said more than 90 per cent of Koreans are behind PyeongChang’s bid.
Salzburg 2014 stressed what it said was one of its most valuable point of sales – legacy. Gernot Leitner, Executive Director of Salzburg 2014 said, “should Salzburg have the honour to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014 our plan includes an ambitious legacy proposal that provides a direct benefit to the Federations and the athletes for both summer and winter sport. The alpine wood chalets that accommodate the athletes in the Snow Village will be re-used creating five continental NOC training centres to be in place after the Games. Doing so, every NOC will be offered guaranteed accommodation in those chalets so that its athletes can compete, train and stay in the heart of Europe. Every continent can take advantage of 10,000 overnight stays per year and use the excellent competition venues that are already in place”.
Heinz Schaden, Chairman and President of Salzburg 2014 said, “thanks to the expertise and advice during the visit of the IOC Evaluation Commission in Salzburg in mid-March, we strengthened our plan according by, for example, increasing the number of beds in the snow village to now over 2000, by confirming unlimited financial guarantees from the Austrian Government for the OCOG and Non-OCOG costs and on top of that jumpstarting the Games with an investment of $125 million (U.S.)”.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov emphasized the significance of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games for the revitalization of Sochi and the legacy of the Games would leave for the economy of the region. He underscored that the Russian government is totally committed to the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, which has been designated a national priority for Russia.
He said the goal is to transform the Sochi region into a world class tourist and winter sport destination – a social and economic imperative for the Russian government.
Bid CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko said, “our Games concept is clear; we aim to provide the entire Olympic Family with 21st century, purpose-built facilities that form a unique, compact and sustainable plan. This plan includes 11 brand new winter sports venues in two clusters less than forty minutes apart”.
