POSTED: Saturday March 26th 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MUNICH 2018 BRINGS WINTER MAGIC TO ONOC GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Bid Committee shares Festival of Friendship vision at New Caledonia presentation

Nouméa, New Caledonia, 26 March 2011: Munich 2018 today transported the delegates at the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) General Assembly away from the sun, sand and surf of New Caledonia to a Bavarian winter wonderland, with a presentation that brought the Bid Committee’s vision of a Festival of Friendship vividly to life.

Munich 2018’s latest offering to the Olympic family was delivered by a high-profile delegation led by DOSB President, Thomas Bach, Bid Committee Chair, Katarina Witt, and Bid Committee CEO, Bernhard Schwank. The presentation focused on what Munich 2018 has to offer the Olympic Movement, both in the short- and long-term. Munich 2018 pledged to elevate the celebration of winter sports whilst also guaranteeing the health and sustainability of the winter sports movement for generations to come.

‘It is a special pleasure for us to be here at ONOC,’ said Bach, ‘because Germany has a very unique historic connection to this continental association. It was at the Baden-Baden Olympic Congress in Germany in 1981 that Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and New Guinea actually founded ONOC.’

Two-time Olympic Champion Katarina Witt is fresh from the Global Sports Forum, Barcelona, where she spoke on the ‘Women who make a difference in sport’ panel. She also attended last week’s Africa International Sports Convention in Marrakech. As an Olympian, she is very excited about the concept:

‘It is great to have the opportunity to share Munich 2018’s vision with the Olympic family in Oceania this week and, as an athlete by heart, to reach out to athletes on a different continent. Munich 2018 will offer opportunities to athletes, coaches and federations from every sport and every nation through various training activities within the ‘Olympic Winter Friendship Programme.’ What’s more, it will seek for the first time to bring together athletes from winter and summer sports in the framework of Germany’s long-time development programme.’

Bernhard Schwank commented:

‘Germany wants to share our state-of-the-art facilities and athlete friendly environment with every NOC in the Olympic family—winter and summer: Munich 2018 is committed to using our excellent resources to help strengthen the Olympic Movement worldwide. Munich 2018’s concept is a clear commitment to the long-term health and sustainability of winter sports from one of the world’s most successful winter sports nations.’

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee is preparing for a series of international presentations to the Olympic family in the lead up to the IOC host city decision on 6 July 2011 in Durban, South Africa.

Background
Munich, in collaboration with Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berchtesgadener Land, is applying to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The application will be put together and managed by Bewerbungsgesellschaft München 2018 GmbH, with Katarina Witt as Chair, Bernhard Schwank as CEO and Jürgen Bühl as Managing Director. Shareholders in the application organisation are the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) with 51 per cent, the City of Munich (30 per cent), the Free State of Bavaria (nine per cent), the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (eight per cent) and the district of Berchtesgadener Land (two per cent). The bid is being supported by national sponsors Adidas, Allianz, the BMW Group, BayWa, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Post, Flughafen München GmbH, Lotto Bayern, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, METRO GROUP, and the Sparkasse Finance Group, along with national suppliers ARGE (Albert Speer & Partner and PROPROJEKT), Deloitte, Getty Images, GfK Verein, IMMO 2018, Messe München GmbH, Norton Rose LLP, Munich Olympic Park, pilot sport and Stadtwerke München GmbH. More information about the concept, the progress of the application and many other aspects can be found at http://www.muenchen2018.org.

Bewerbungsgesellschaft München 2018 GmbH
Munich 2018 Bid Committee
Olympiapark München
Spiridon-Louis-Ring 21
80809 München

Responsible for contents:
Bernhard Schwank and Jürgen Bühl

Press Contact:
Simone Seefried
Agnes-Pockels-Bogen 1
80992 München
Telephone: +49 89 540428-313

Mobile: +49 176 840 532 26
E-Mail: presse@muenchen2018.org

Online Press Area:
http://www.muenchen2018.org/en/press

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Keywords · Munich 2018 · Thomas Bach · Katarina Witt · Bernhard Schwank · ONOC

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Name: Simone Seefried
Organization: Munich 2018 Bid Committee
Email:
Phone: 4989540428317
URL: http://www.muenchen2018.org

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