Two-time Olympic figure skating gold medallist Katarina Witt was named Thursday as chair of the 23-member Munch 2018 Winter Olympic Games bid committee.
German Olympic committee president Thomas Bach called Witt an “excellent choice”. He said, “Katarina Witt is internationally the world star of German winter sport”.
Witt said, “I promise that we in the board of trustees will do everything so that the IOC can only say in 2011 ‘the Games must go to Munich'”.
Munich Mayor Christian Ude said there was a lot of momentum in Munich’s 2018 bid. Last week the Bundestag had agreed to support Munich’s bid.
Munich plans to hold ice sports in the city, snow events at Garmish-Partenkirchen, biathlon and cross-country at Oberammergau, and bobsled, luge and skeleton events at Koenigsee near Berchtesgaden.
Munich wants to become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games. The 1972 Summer Games were held there.
The International Olympic Committee will choose the 2018 host city at its general assembly in Durban, South Africa in July 2011.
