Munich 2018 – FESTIVAL OF FRIENDSHIP CLEARED FOR LANDING – Munich 2018 Fan Flight touches down in Durban

  Durban – Munich 2018's Fan Flight landed in Durban this morning, bringing with it the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, 15 illustrious Munich 2018 sports ambassadors and over 100 winter sports fans, all with one goal in mind: to show their support for Munich 2018's Festival of Friendship.

With just one day before the IOC selects the host city of the 2018 Winter Games, the Bid Committee is confident that today's arrivals will send a clear message to the Olympic family: Munich 2018 is a sports-driven bid fuelled by the passion of millions of winter sports fans and backed wholeheartedly by every level of government. Horst Seehofer joins a Munich 2018 delegation that features some of Germany's top political heavyweights, including the Head of State, President Christian Wulff, the Federal Minister of the Interior, Hans-Peter Friedrich, and Lord Mayor of Munich, Christian Ude.

Chair of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee, Katarina Witt, commented:

‘This Fan Flight says so much about what makes our bid special. We are honoured to have Prime Minister Seehofer supporting us here in Durban, and our sports ambassadors are living proof that Munich 2018 is a bid from athletes for athletes. And we are just over the moon to have all these fans here! They've taken time off work, they've travelled thousands of miles, just to cheer us on and give us that extra push towards the finish line. That's the kind of passion that will define Munich 2018's Festival of Friendship.'

The fans will watch the final presentation and the host city decision from German House, alongside Munich 2018 sports ambassadors, sponsors and partners. German House will be located at Moyo in uShaka, and with Munich 2018 generating plenty of local support already, up to 500 guests are expected for the final countdown to the decision.

Munich 2018's roster of sports ambassadors in Durban have amassed an incredible 51 gold, 13 silver and nine bronze Olympic and Paralympic medals over the course of glittering careers. Two of those medals belong to alpine skiing legend and native of Bavaria, Markus Wasmeier. He said:

‘The atmosphere on the way over was fantastic. There's a real sense of anticipation now and we can't wait for the final announcement. Munich 2018 is a sports-driven bid and that's why I am here to offer my full support – I firmly believe that Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the ice track at Lake Königssee will offer the very best athlete experience in 2018.'

Munich 2018's final presentation to the IOC will take place at 08:45 local time on Wednesday morning.

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 www.muenchen2018.org/en.