A source told GamesBids.com that a decision on which city, Innsbruck or Salzburg, would be the Austrian candidate for the 2014 Summer Olympic Games could be based on emotion.
The two cities made 20-minute presentations Wednesday and GamesBids.com has learned that following the presentations some of the 11 board members started to raise questions about financial implications of the two bids. The Austrian Olympic Committee will have to ask the two bid cities to deliver data on required investments by mid January said the source.
Also, the source said Secretary General Heinz Jungwirth did not expect that Innsbruck would be able to deliver a thorough report on technical aspects of its bid, so he said, “both presentations – delivered by Markus Redl for Innsbruck and Gernot Leitner for Salzburg – were absolutely excellent. Because of that fact the decision is going to be an emotional one – not one necessarily based on facts”.
Except for the presentation there was no technical evaluation done, and a few questions asked. No further evaluation is planned.
GamesBids.com has learned that Innsbruck’s presentation talked about a bid strategy where all competition venues and non-competition venues are actually in and around Innsbruck. The maximum distance from the Olympic Village would be 35 kilometres.
Innsbruck’s bid includes two-lane-highways, two-track railways and 80,000 beds in three-to-five star hotels within a radius of 50 kilometres already in place, said Markus Redl during the presentation.
He said, “Most importantly the sports infrastructure is excellent with a 150 million Euros investment package funded by different governmental levels in between 1999 and 2005”.
The only three competition-venues that would have to be constructed are Ice Hockey I, Figure Skating/Short Track Speed Skating and Speed Skating.
Other venues like Ski Jumping, Bobsleigh, Ice Hockey (two venues), Downhill Skiing and the Opening Ceremony Stadium already exist and are regularly used for international competitions.
Innsbruck bid for the 1964 Winter Games and the city took over the 1976 Winter Olympic Games three years before the day of the Opening Ceremony when Denver withdrew from the Games for political reasons.
