POSTED: February 2nd 2011
NewsUpdate
Kandahar success is major confidence boost for Annecy 2018 bid team
ALAN LAFLEUR / Sports Features Communications
TAMPA/ANNECY: Annecy 2018's winter Olympics bid team gained renewed confidence from the local weekend staging of the Kandahar, a competition that combines downhill and slalom events.
The race takes place every two years on the La Verte - “The Green Run” - at the Les Houches in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, a proposed venue for the 2018 Games. Perfect conditions saw Switzerland's Didier Cuche win the downhill event and Croatia's Ivica Kostelic take the super combine in front of 15,000 fans.
Charles Beigbeder, Annecy 2018 president, said: “Kandahar is an absolute must on the winter circuit. We had all the right conditions for an extraordinary sporting experience - an outstanding venue, a perfect piste, snow - and sunshine.
"The atmosphere was tremendous and it’s fantastic for the entire Annecy 2018 team - knowing we are backed by all these supporters gives us that extra boost to pull out all the stops and bring the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Games home.”
Observers included Sochi 2014 technical teams to gather knowledge from French expertise with Alpine skiing.
“It’s been a pleasure to talk with our French friends about issues such as tourism and organizing elite sporting competitions,” said Irina Romanets, Deputy Mayor of Sochi.
Romanets and her colleagues came to the right place as Chamonix, since the 1924 Winter Olympics, has consiered itself the epitome of Alpine skiing.
The Sochi team also studied tourism aspects around Les Houces. The resort, which is in the valley off of Mont-Blanc, not only focuses on elite skiing but offers opportunities for the lowest of skilled skiers.
Keywords · Annecy 2018 · 2018 Winter Olympics · Kandahar · Beigbeder · Sochi
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