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South Korean Olympic Bid Boosted by Criticism of Rivals
05/06/2007 |
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Pyeongchang's bid to bring the 2014 Winter Olympics to South Korea received a boost from a report that criticized Austria's Salzburg and Russia's Sochi, one month before the vote for the host city.
Salzburg's bid documents lacked detail and underestimated security needs, while Sochi may struggle to complete its construction program, the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission said today. The concepts behind the Pyeongchang and Salzburg bids were ``excellent,'' while Sochi's was ``very good,'' it said.
``We are very pleased to receive a positive assessment from such an expert group,'' Kim Jin-Sun, president of Pyeongchang's bid committee, said in a statement.
IOC members, barred from visiting bidding cities, will use the findings to help decide how they'll vote in Guatemala City on July 4. Pyeongchang, which lost out to Vancouver by three votes for the 2010 Winter Games, was rated the most likely winner before today's report, according to bid-watching Web site gamesbids.com.
Pyeongchang gave ``very high quality presentations'' and its financial guarantees were ``generally of a high quality,'' the commission wrote in the 85-page report that was compiled following three-day visits to each candidate in February and March.
Party Atmosphere
The commission expressed concern over Sochi's ability to complete infrastructure projects and said its plan to have an Olympic Park outside the city may not attract the crowds ``to create a festive Games atmosphere.''
The Sochi bid envisages $12 billion of spending on everything from the athletes' accommodation to a new highway capable of taking 65,000 spectators to the mountains.
Many of the infrastructure projects ``would require robust construction methods,'' the commission wrote. The construction program would have to be ``tightly monitored in order to ensure timely delivery for the Games,'' it added.
The Sochi team is addressing the IOC's concerns, according to Russian Economy Minister German Gref. He cited an air strip, a power station and the Roz Khutor ski resort as examples of projects that are running ahead of schedule.
``The plans will be completed one year before the 2014 Games,'' Gref told a press conference in Paris. ``I hope that the IOC will see Sochi as a reliable and low-risk partner.''
Lacking Detail
While Salzburg's bid garnered the same ``excellent'' rating as Pyeongchang, the commission found areas of concern.
The bid documentation ``lacked detail,'' the transportation budget was ``on the low side,'' and ``Salzburg appears to have underestimated the resources required for security operations,'' the commission wrote.
Salzburg's mayor, Heinz Schaden, said the city will respond to the commission's points in time for the vote. Schaden said independent polls showed more than 80 percent of support for the bid within Salzburg, contrasting with the commission's figure of 42 percent. More than three-quarters of residents in Sochi and Pyeongchang support hosting the Games, the report said.
``The commission identified a few areas where Salzburg can improve its plan,'' Schaden, who is president of the Austrian bid, said in a statement. ``We have been working on these areas since the visit and will continue to make improvements all the way to the final presentation.''
Peace and Harmony
Salzburg, Mozart's hometown, was the early frontrunner because the Austrian Alps already possess many facilities for elite winter athletes.
Pyeongchang's bid is being fronted by South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung Soo and has backing from major South Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of memory chips. Pyeongchang is located in a province that straddles the border with North Korea.
``The bid committee hopes that staging the Winter Games would contribute to peace, harmony and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula,'' the commission said.
With a population of 45,000, Pyeongchang is located at an altitude of 700 meters close to the Odae mountain ski resort. South Korea is also staging the 2011 world athletics championships and the 2014 Asian Games.
Organizers of the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 say the Games added $4.8 billion to Utah's economy and 35,000 jobs. Vancouver, the 2010 host, says the Olympics will create 200,000 jobs in British Columbia.
(Source: Bloomberg.com)
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