MUNICH 2018 TO SHOW STRENGTHS AT FIS WORLD CUP – Inaugural parallel slalom event will cement host city credentials, say Neureuther and Schweinsteiger

Munich: When the FIS World Cup comes to Munich on 2 January 2011, the Bavarian capital's bid to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will benefit enormously from the opportunity to demonstrate its unrivalled capacity for hosting world-class winter sports events, according to some of the region's leading sporting figureheads.

Speaking at yesterday's press conference to promote the first ever parallel slalom event on the FIS tour, Munich 2018 ambassador and Germany's leading alpine skier, Felix Neureuther, CEO of the Munich Olympic Park, Ralph Huber, and Germany and FC Bayern Munich football star, Bastian Schweinsteiger, all agreed that the competition would provide compelling evidence of the region's host city credentials.

With the backing of industry-leading expertise, elite athletes and, most importantly, Bavaria's passionate sports fans, the pilot event is widely expected to be a resounding success.

Felix Neureuther is keenly anticipating the chance to compete in a new event in front of an ardent home crowd:

‘It is an important event for Munich 2018. Good organisation on site and an amazing atmosphere in the stadium will demonstrate Germany's passion for winter sports once again. Combined with the FIS World Ski Championship in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where some events are already sold out, this will give a good impression of what Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games would look like in Munich.

It is a dream to compete at a World Championship on home turf. But it would be even greater to finish my career with an Olympic race on the very slope where I started skiing as a child.'

The parallel slalom event will be the latest international sports celebration in the Munich Olympic Park's outstanding portfolio. After Germany's victory in the Deutschland Cup was watched by 35,000 fans last weekend, preparations are already underway for another innovative winter sports offering in January. The Olympic Lake will be drained and transformed into a spectator area, allowing up to 15,000 fans an uninterrupted view of the 200 metre Olympic Hill course. The event will follow the blueprint that has characterised events at the Olympic Park for 40 years: ideal conditions for elite athletic performance married to an unforgettable experience for spectators.

Ralph Huber reiterated what an excellent opportunity the FIS World Cup event represents for Munich 2018:

‘For Munich 2018, this city race at the Olympic Park is a superb chance to demonstrate organisational skills and to create some truly emotional sporting history.'

Bastian Schweinsteiger, who captained the national side against Sweden on Wednesday, added:

'T his is a wonderful event for Munich. We can demonstrate the passion for sports in the city. It is also an important signal for international decision makers. I personally hope that the event will be held here regularly.'

Yesterday's press conference underlined the key focus of Munich 2018's presentation to the Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly in Guangzhou on 13 November; namely, that Munich and Bavaria have a proven pedigree in staging international winter sports events, making the region a favoured destination for athletes and International Federations alike. Munich has pledged to use this wealth of experience to take the Winter Games and the Olympic Movement as a whole to new heights, with an unforgettable Festival of Friendship in 2018.

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, whose management is chaired by Bernhard Schwank and whose managing director is Jürgen Bühl. 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 the Adidas, Allianz, BMW Group, BayWa, Flughafen München GmbH, Lotto Bayern, Deutsche Lufthans a AG and the Sparkasse Finance Group, along with national suppliers ARGE, Deloitte, 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 www.muenchen2018.org.