The Bavarian city was the first of the three cities bidding for the Games to give a 45 minute presentation followed by a question and answer session with the members that took place behind closed doors. 

Munich was followed by Annecy and Pyeongchang and, while none of the three revealed anything new during their presentations, there was a definite sense in the air that we are reaching the business end of the race that will reach its conclusion at the IOC Session in Durban on July 6.

"I think it went very well and we pulled off a very good presentation," said Bach, the President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and vice-president of the IOC. 

"But it really is of no interest to lead a marathon race after 22 kilometres or 30.

"What is important is to cross the finish line first."

Munich, whose presenters also included Germany's Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, are focussing on trying to convince the IOC that by awarding the the Games the Olympic Movement will benefit from increased sponsorship from German companies. 

"We are very relieved," said Katarina Witt, the chair of Munich 2018. 

"It was a real school exam but I think we did well.

"Now we have to improve for Durban, though it is hard to think what we can improve until then."


Pyeongchang, boosted by the first international appearance of Olympic skating champion Kim Yu-Na (pictured), did debut three new films made by New Moon, the company that produced London's award-winning videos during their successful bid for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Having achieved the best report from the IOC Evaluation Commission, the general consensus is that the Games is Pyeongchang's to lose after having narrowly failed to win its bids to host the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. 

"We are delighted that we got our message through to the IOC today," said Yang Ho Cho, the chief executive and chairman of Pyeongchang 2018. 

"But I am not in a position to judge if we are stronger or not [than before].

"The decision is taken by the IOC."

Kim had claimed she was more nervous about presenting here than she was before last year's Olympics in Vancouver.

But in the end her performance was as flawless as ever.

"Ten, yeah," the 20-year-old Kim responded when asked how she rated their performance. 

Annecy are widely considered to be the outsiders in this race but they were given a much-needed lift by the first appearance of Jean-Claude Killy (pictured), the triple Olympic skiing champion and one of the IOC's most influential members.


Killy's continued absence from their international presentations had generally been seen as a major weakness in Annecy's bid, raising questions as to how behind the bid he really is.

But he claimed after the presentation that they were on the shoulders of their rivals.

"We have nothing to envy from the other two bids," said Killy.

"We are all three even now.

"It is not the case any more of being behind.

"It was the case before for good reason but not any more.

"It went very well today."

Tomorrow the three cities will have the opportunity to speak to the IOC members on an individual basis.

"Today all three cities made impressive presentations," said Jacques Rogge, the President of the IOC.

"For the past decade, a tremendous amount of dedication and hard work has been invested by the IOC to improve the Evaluation process.

"We believe that we now have in place a sophisticated procedure, and the technical briefings provide an excellent opportunity for IOC members and candidate cities alike.

"This meeting gives the IOC members greater clarity concerning each city's bid, which is crucial for them when making their evaluations and ultimately, the most informed decision possible in July."

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