Annecy, PyeongChang Submit 2018 Bid Books to IOC

chief Denis Masseglia (third from left) and Annecy mayor Jean-Luc Rigaut (second from right) with French Olympians at the bid book handover (Annecy 2018)(ATR) Annecy 2018 was the first of the three Winter Olympic candidates to submit its bid file to the IOC. PyeongChang delivered its bid dossier Monday afternoon, while Munich hands over its file tomorrow.

French Olympic Committee president Denis Masseglia headed Annecy's bid delegation to Lausanne. But French businessman Charles Beigbeder, who was confirmed as the new bid leader later Monday, did not travel to the Olympic capital.

Annecy presented its bid documents to the IOC at 11am today, a day ahead of the Jan. 11 deadline.

The delegation also included Annecy mayor Jean-Luc Rigaut, Olympic slalom champion Jean-Pierre Vidal, Antoine Deneriaz, Olympic downhill champion in 2006, and Gwendal Peizerat, Olympic champion in ice dancing in 2002.

The bid dossiers cover all aspects of the bid plans, including government support, budgets, sports venues, transport, marketing and security.

Beigbeder, 46, was last week nominated to replace Edgar Grospiron by chairman of the Annecy 2018 supervisory board, Christian Monteil.

He was confirmed as chairman this afternoon when a vote of the public interest group (GIP) was held.

Vidal and Pernilla Wiberg were named vice presidents in the leadership revamp.

Grospiron quit as bid chief in December amid budgetary concerns and claiming Annecy didn't have enough campaign funds to compete with its rivals.

The PyeongChang bid handed over its candidature file to the IOC at 3pm CET today.

The delegation in Lausanne was headed by chairman and CEO Yang Ho Cho.

"We believe we have developed a strong technical file and a compelling Winter Games Plan that will create an ideal setting for the athletes, fans and the Olympic Family," Cho said in a statement.

"Our athlete-friendly Games Plan includes the most compact and efficient venue layout, a revolutionary multi-transport network linking the venue clusters, and a legacy strategy that will create the most modern and sustainable Winter Sports hub in Asia to serve athletes for generations to come."

Also part of the bid delegation are Kwang-bae Kang, the bid's sports director and current Korean bobsleigh team coach, and ambassadorMin-kyung Choi, a gold medalist in short track speed skating at Salt Lake City 2002 and Nagano 1998.

The IOC Session will vote for the 2018 host city in Durban on July 6.

Munich Unveils Sponsor, Handover Plans

Munich 2018 chair Katarina Witt and bid CEO BernhardSchwank will present their bid book to the IOC at 10am on Tuesday.

Christian Ude, Mayor of Munich, took part in a bid book send-off ceremony in the German city today, presenting the 396-page dossier to Witt in a symbolic handover before it left for Lausanne.

The German bid today also announced Deutsche Post as its latest sponsor. It is the ninth national partner.

"This bid book demonstrates the core values at the heart of Munich 2018: an athlete-friendly, compact concept with solid planning for sustainability and the environment," Witt said.

"The document that we will deliver tomorrow is a powerful demonstration of the close relationship with athletes that is the foundation of Munich 2018’s promise to the Olympic Movement."

Schwank said: "‘Munich 2018’s bid book is the result of two years of hard work and we will continue to increase our efforts to share our vision as we build towards the decision in July. The expertise from our special commissions, stakeholders, national sponsors and our planners, AS&P and ProProjekt, has been invaluable."

The bid book will be made public at Muenchen2018.orgfrom Jan. 12.

Withreporting from Mark Bisson

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