Annecy pins 2018 hopes on traditional values

DURBAN, July 6 (Reuters) - The French resort of Annecy pinned their hopes of securing the 2018 Winter Olympics on the traditional values involved in hosting the Games when they made their bid presentation to the IOC on Wednesday.

The first Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France in 1924 and Annecy is bidding to become the fourth French city to host the Games after Grenoble in 1968 and Albertville in 1992.

Annecy is up against Pyeongchang, South Korea and Munich, Germany in the battle to secure the 2018 Games with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to vote in the winning bid later on Wednesday.

The French city is widely seen as the outsider but the Annecy bid committee said that the history that surrounds Annecy, which will make use of Chamonix as one of its venues, made them a strong candidate.
“France is proud to be the birthplace of Pierre de Coubertin (founder of the IOC) and of having hosted the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924,” Denis Massegilla, president of France’s Olympic Committee said during the presentation.
Former athlete Guy Drut reinforced the view. “Annecy will stage games true to the Winter Games spirit in an exceptional mountain city in a country with a strongest commitment to Olympism,” he said.
“The choice is not between three different cities or about bid history. It is about the future and about which city will ensure that the Winter Games retains its position as one of the world’s premier sports.”
Charles Beigbeder, the French bid president, said that the time was right for Annecy to host the Games.
“We think our bid is in line with the evolution of the Olympic movement. We will deliver the best of France with its great mountains and passion. We want to stage a spectacular games and we feel it is the right time (for Annecy),” Beigbeder told reporters after the presentation.
The Annecy bid has had its fair share of difficulties with resignations, a lack of funds and lower public support in an IOC poll than its rivals but Chantal Jouanno, France’s minister of sport, said that the issues were now behind them.
“Results of opinion polls were not spectacular, not as good as we hoped during the time of (our) internal difficulties. But the most recent polls are a lot better with 60-70 percent of locals supporting the event,” she explained.