On the second day of its tour of Salzburg’s bid for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) evaluation commission visited the ice rink, the skating centre and the planned media centre.
According to reports from The Globe And Mail and The Associated Press the group then went by train to nearby Bischofshofen, site of the ski jumping events. The group also visited Koenigssee in the German State of Bavaria, host of the luge and bob sled events.
The evaluation team was expected to dine Friday night at a top restaurant run by former women’s downhill Olympic champion Annemarie Moser-Proell.
Egon Winkler, head of Salzburg 2010 said, “we wanted to express the meaning of our motto ‘Sound of Winter Sports’ which is the vision of Olympics unifying the three pillars of sport, culture and environment – so Austrian food is also part of the idea”.
Winkler, added, “the evaluation committee is the eyes and ears of the Olympic movement. We have to show we deserve to be an Olympic city. Salzburg wants the Games. All polls have shown that our residents are backing the bid”.
Robert Kaspar, general secretary of the 2010 bid, said he was pleased by the visit so far. “We don’t know yet what grades we will get, but looking at how those two days went, I am very confident”, he said.
He said, “the panel was incredibly well prepared, but still we managed to surprise them with some projects. They were fascinated about our plans to build a platform above the Salzach River for the opening and closing ceremonies”.
But Gerhard Heiberg, head of the IOC evaluation commission, said he wasn’t sure yet about a proposal for the opening and closing ceremonies to be held at a 25,000-seat stadium to be built over the river.
He said the view would be fantastic if the weather was good, but a problem if it rained and will be considering the plan.
Leo Wallner, head of the Austrian Olympic Committee said, “only 20 per cent of the venues would need to be built or at least refurbished. To show how close the venues are to each other, we decided to walk”, during most tours over the next days.
Following day one of the commission’s tour Michael Schuen, a spokesman for the bid said, “I am very satisfied with the first day. We had excellent discussions, and the committee was very well prepared, asking on-the-spot questions. However, we could always reply immediately”.
