POSTED: Thursday May 26th 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MUNICH 2018 UNVEILS DURBAN DECISION DAY PLANS

Huge public events to mark IOC’s host city announcement

Munich, 26 May 2011: Munich 2018 today revealed its plans to mark the IOC's historic host city announcement on 6 July, with Olympic spirit set to sweep Bavaria in a series of public celebrations in the build-up to the final decision.

Fans and friends of the Munich 2018 bid will come together at public celebration sites in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Lake Königssee and even a German House in Durban. In the city of Munich, the 'Fan Mile' concept, which proved such an irresistible draw during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, will come to life once again, with people expected to flock to the city centre in their tens of thousands.

Speaking at a press conference today, Thomas Bach, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, said:

'The reception our presentation in Lausanne received was very good. We have the impression that our bid has a real chance of winning on 6 July. It is very important for us to have a strong, influential delegation on site; having [Germany's Head of State] Christian Wulff addressing the IOC members will give our vision maximum impact.'

Munich 2018's passionate fans will be able to watch the Bid Committee's final presentation on giant screens at each of the public sites from 8.30am onwards. A full day's programme of music, expert interviews, background reports and live acts will entertain the audience until the all-important decision at 5pm.

Munich 2018 has also offered fans the chance to travel to Durban with the delegation, with a tour from 4-7 July. The tour will include a full schedule of events at German House, climaxing with the final decision and an evening with the Munich 2018 delegation.

Munich 2018 Chair and two-time Olympic gold medallist, Katarina Witt, said:

'The make-up of our delegation reinforces our messages to the IOC. We couldn't get all 126 of our sports ambassadors on the plane, but many of them will be coming with us to show that this is a bid by athletes for athletes. Representatives of all German winter sports federations will reaffirm their total support for our concept. President Wulff will offer his personal guarantee that Munich 2018 has the full backing of every level of government.'

Thomas Bach and Katarina Witt will lead a top-level delegation, which will include the Lord Mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, IOC Athletes' Commission Vice President, Claudia Bokel, and IOC Honorary member, Walther Tröger. They will be supported by sports ambassadors on site - German icons like Verene Bentele, Georg Hackl, Rosi Mittermaier, Martin Braxenthaler, Christian Neureuther, and Markus Wasmeier.

Munich 2018 CEO, Bernhard Schwank, explained the Bid Committee's vision for the public celebration events:

'The idea is to reduce the distance from Munich to Durban. We want to bring all the excitement and anticipation we'll be feeling on-site to the people of Bavaria, and vice versa. We hope all of Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Lake Königssee will join us to commemorate this historic occasion.'

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee today invited the whole of Bavaria to the 6 July party with a brand new advertising poster.

Photo: from left to right: Munich 2018 CEO, Bernhard Schwank; 2nd Mayor of Munich, Christine Strobl; DOSB President, Thomas Bach; Munich 2018 Chair, Katarina Witt; and Chairman of Munich 2018's sponsor BayWa, Klaus Josef Lutz; present the new Bid Committee poste

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, Hubert Burda Media, 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/en.

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 540428-317
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 · IOC · Thomas Bach · Katarina Witt · Bernhard Schwank

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

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