Munich 2018 was the first presenter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Wednesday, and pledged to the 88 members of the IOC to help the Olympic Movement rise to the challenges identified at the 2009 Olympic Congress in Copenhagen, engaging young people, setting new sustainability standards, and reinvigorating the Winter Games brand.
President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation and Olympic champion, Thomas Bach, opened and closed the presentation. Other presenters included two-time Olympic gold medallist and Munich 2018 Chair, Katarina Witt, Germany’s Federal Minister of the Interior Hans-Peter Friedrich, Lord Mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, CEO of the Munich 2018 bid committee Bernhard Schwank, BMW Group’s Head of Sales and Marketing Ian Robertson, IOC Athletes’ Commission member and Olympian, Claudia Bokel, double Olympic champion, Magdalena Neuner, and IOC Honorary Member, Walther Troger.
Bach opened the presentation reiterating that “Munich 2018 is, above all else, a sports-driven bid”, highlighting that Germany, one of the most successful winter sports nations, had not hosted the Winter Games for nearly 80 years.
Witt said during the presentation, “when you choose the Olympic host city, it is about more than just geography. It is a choice about the kind of Olympic experience the athletes of the future should have. In Munich in 2018 every Olympian and Paralympian will have just what they deserve: the single greatest experience of their lives. Because the atmosphere will be everything they have ever dreamed of”.
Ude emphasized the key aspects of Munich 2018’s environmental concept highlighted in the Evaluation Commission report as “a strong and innovative sustainability strategy”.
Schwank highlighted some of the measures proposed by Munich 2018 to achieve its ambitious green goals. He said, “to stage the first ever carbon-neutral Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Munich 2018 has introduced bold environmental measures through its 18 Flagship projects, which are fully funded by $139 million in government commitments. We’ll completely offset the 284,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from air travel through investments in Gold Standard climate protection projects on the five Olympic continents”.
Following Munich’s presentation, IOC member Thomas Bach, part of the Munich bid team, said, “I think it went very well and we pulled off a very good presentation. But it really is of no interest to lead a marathon race after 22 kilometres or 30. What is important is to cross the finish line first”.
Meanwhile Munich 2018 confirmed Wednesday that President Christian Wulff, Germany’s Head of State, will be in Durban in July for the 123rd IOC Session and the announcement of the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games host city.
Wulff gave a video message to the IOC members at Munich 2018’s presentation Wednesday.
Schwank said, “we are going to be taking a very high-profile delegation to Durban, because we want to make it absolutely clear that Munich 2018 is a national priority”.
