With the launching of the official logo for the Salzburg 2014 Winter Olympic Games Wednesday Salzburg officially began its campaign to host the 2014 Games.
The logo in the form of the Edelweiss – the symbol of Austria – depicts the five continents in yellow surrounded by blue petals pointing to the centre, indicating that the whole world is invited to the Salzburg 2014 Winter Games. The warm yellow in the centre of the colder blue shows the warming light in the winter.
Heinz Jungwirth, Secretary General of the Austrian Olympic Committee said, “we have reached to the heart of our winter sports culture to find a symbol that embodies the magical beauty of the Alps, the honour of sport, the determination and skill of the athletes who compete for the ultimate glory of their countries”.
Heinz Schaden, Mayor of Salzburg said at the launch, “with the world unified at the heart of the Edelweiss our bid is sending a clear signal to the Olympic Movement – an invitation of enchanting unity and friendship in the intimate winter setting of one of the world’s most beautiful cities”.
Salzburg 2014 slogans are Celebrate Sports and Celebrate the Magic of Winter Sports.
Salzburg 2014 officials say they have learned much from Salzburg’s failed bid for the 2010 Winter Games, which went to Vancouver, and said that this bid was much better.
According to a press release Salzburg 2014 has simplified its vision for 2014, creating a compact plan that reaches for the ultimate Winter Games model – a one Olympic Village, Two Cluster Concept with the ice events groups in Salzburg and the snow events grouped in the mountains just south of the city.
The overall dimensions of the plan – at 55 minutes end-to-end – make it possible to have a single Medals Plaza for all Olympians in the heart of the city. The plan is designed to provide the Olympic Family with the most compact and intimate setting for the Winter Games in the last two decades, says the press release.
Within the Snow Cluster an optional Snow Village with 1,500 beds will be provided for the athletes and teams who prefer to stay within minutes of their competition sites. With the optional Village added the average travel time for athletes to the snow venues is 10 minutes.
Eight of the eleven venues selected currently exist and they regularly host major events on the World Cup circuit. Ninety per cent of the venues are aligned along the Al and A10 Autobahns, directly linked or easily accessible from the highways and all but two are served directly by passenger rail lines.
Salzburg is committed to building two new permanent ice halls – one for figure skating and one for ice hockey – reflecting the goal of the bid to create a major legacy for ice sports in Austria.