Innsbruck’s deputy Mayor Michael Bielowski said Thursday that Innsbruck is interested in hosting the Winter Olympic Games in 2014 for the third time.
He said, “we are going to inform the (Austrian) Olympic committee of our interest and then wait for the necessary application documents. As soon as we receive these we will then make our bid”.
In a special meeting of Innsbruck’s municipal council there was a clear majority for a 2014 bid.
The head of the provincial government of Tyrol said Tyrol will support Innsbruck’s bid and it would get the same support as Kitzbuhel had for the 2010 bid it had with Salzburg. But the government wants to have a public opinion poll before Innsbruck bids.
Sport official Elisabeth Zanon-zur Nedden said if the evaluation criteria for the 2014 bids is the same or similar to the 2010 bids, then Innsbruck’s chances for a very positive assessment by the IOC is very high. She added that Europe has a high geopolitical chance to get the 2014 Games.
Salzburg’s mayor Heinz Schaden said that he’s not concerned about Innsbruck’s prospective bid. He said, “we are a ‘domant bid”, if necessary, we can rev up”.
Leo Wallner, president of the Austrian Olympic Committee, who would like to see only one Austrian bid for 2014, said that Salzburg’s bid was very good but there can be others who are even better.
Wallner says that Salzburg still has until 2005 when the host city for the 2014 Games is selected, to decide if it will bid.
