Mikhail Stepanyants, chairman of the Moscow Sport Committee, said Tuesday the chances of Moscow winning the bid for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games are high.
RIA Novosti reports Stepanyants saying “many members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are not quite sure of the format for the Youth Olympic Games”.
He said that all sports events will be held within the city, and the Olympic village will be situated in a hotel complex in the northeast of Moscow which was constructed for the 1980 Games.
Stepanyants said, “Moscow’s main bargaining chips are its compactness, convenience, security and education program”.
Moscow deputy Mayor Valery Vinogradov said Wednesday that Moscow is ready and more than willing to host the Games. “We are already prepared to hold the Olympics in Moscow. All our sports sites, the Olympic village, and cultural and education program are fully ready”.
He added, “we do not need to build additional sports buildings, there are plenty of them in Moscow – they all meet all the technical requirements to hold Olympic-level events”.
Meanwhile, to boost Moscow’s 2010 bid, sports personalities, Olympic champions, young skaters and celebrities are taking part in an ice show in Red Square Thursday.
A spokesman for the Moscow Olympic bid committee said, “the spectators will see an unforgettable theatrical and musical show, with laser lights and a firework display, reports RIA Novosti.
The show includes an award ceremony for Moscow’s best young athletes of 2007 and a presentation of a multilingual Olympic website http://www.moscow2010.ru/.
