POSTED: April 7th 2011
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2018 Olympics bids: ANNECY runs to catch up with pledge of 'lasting commitment'
KEIR RADNEDGE at SportAccord / Sports Features Communications
LONDON, Apr 07: SportAccord was the stage for a thematic confrontation between the 2018 Winter Games bidders. Here SportsFeatures.com reacts to all three: continuing with Annecy:
The French presentation – a vast improvement on previous efforts – was led off by IOC member and former Olympic champion Guy Drut who insisted on his country’s “lasting commitment to serve the Olympic movement.”
Bid ceo Charles Beigbeder preached the message of “authentic Games at the heart of the mountains,” recalling the legacy link that secondary hub Chamonix had hosted what is now considered the first Winter Games back in 1924.
Subsquently French Olympic president Denis Masseglia and Annecy Mayor Jean-Luc Rigaut – viewing the Games as “a catalyst for regional development” - were supported by an excellent graphics video setting out the map of the bid with a clarifying English-language voice-over.
Annecy’s filmic efforts provided a pleasant and informative contrast to Munich’s high-speed videos which had gone before. But the focus of the bid was lost in an over-long tourism film and had to be regained by Chantal Jouanno, the Sports Minister.
Jouanno had played a crucial role in putting the Annecy bid back on track but the presentation dipped dramatically again when she introduced former Olympic champion and IOC member Jean-Claude Killy . . . who appeared only on screen.
At least Annecy had a high-profile supporter in the audience in Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Afterwards, he praised the bid and its presentation as “good, modern, dynamic, with movement and energy.”
Annecy’s bid has come a long way but is still running to catch up. Jouanno, challenged on a complex history, Jouanno responded defiantly: “It’s never too late.”
Keywords · 2018 Winter Olympics · Annecy · Wenger
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