Transcript of Remarks From Munich 2018 Presentation at ONOC General Assembly (Unedited)

Munich 2018 Team Presents at ONOC in New Caledonia (Munich 2018 Photo)

Following, provided by Munich 2018, is an unedited transcript of remarks made by the Munich 2018 team at the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) General Assembly at Nouméa, New Caledonia, Saturday, March 26, 2011. 

Thomas Bach & Katarina Witt at podium together:

Thomas:

Dear President and Friend Robin Mitchell, Distinguished Friends & Colleagues Kevan Gosper and Berry Maister, Dear ONOC-Delegates:

This is one of the true benefits of bidding for the Games—the opportunity to join you here in New Caledonia … and gain some insights into the great work you are doing for the Olympic Movement all across Oceania and beyond. Thank you very much for your kind invitation, which we all sincerely appreciate.

For us, it is a special honor because ONOC and Germany … share a great historic link.  It was in Baden-Baden, Germany at the Olympic Congress in 1981 that Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and New Guinea, founded ONOC … a great moment for Olympic sport all around the world.  And it was also a special moment for me because it was my first appearance on the IOC level as an athlete representative then. 

Therefore, it is an even greater honor to share the story of Munich 2018 with you today.

It is the story of a bid dedicated to strengthening the Olympic Movement everywhere … by recharging the batteries of winter sport in its heartland … and thereby strengthening not only the Olympic Winter Games, but the entire Olympic Family.

With me today are our bid Chair, two-time Olympic champion, Katarina Witt … and Munich 2018 CEO and Chef de Mission of Germany’s Team at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games 2010, Bernhard Schwank.

Katarina please.

Katarina:

Thank you, Thomas.

Dear President, Distinguished guests,

What a beautiful place to be. But with all this sand and sun, you’re really going to need to exercise your imagination to get into the winter wonderland we want to take you to today back in Munich.

We have a great story to tell you about the Festival of Friendship we have planned for the Games—a great universal celebration of sport in a city that throws some of the best parties on the planet.

To get us started, here’s a little taste of our winter reality, after which, Bernhard will tell you about our plan.

(Run Beautiful Bavaria:  Munich Loves You video, 2’16)

Bernhard:

Thank you, Katarina

Dear Friends,

As you’ve just seen, Munich is a city of festivals that offers you everything a world-class destination offers.

The best hotels, restaurants, shopping and nightlife.

The finest museums, theaters and entertainment.

Six million people come to the Oktoberfest in Munich every year and all of them have a great time.

And you will too as our Festival of Friendship unfolds right outside the Media Villages and the Hotels where you’ll be staying.

Our plan is based on a Two-Park Concept, with the ice events at the Ice Park in Munich, the snow events in the Snow Park in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ... and the sliding events at our stand alone venue, the famous Konigssee Sliding Centre.

Let me take you on a tour of our plan:

Flyover video runs on screen as Bernhard narrates

Your trip to Munich begins at one of Europe’s finest international airports …
And one of the most popular gateways to winter sports

It’s just 30 minutes from the city—by autobahn or train …
a very swift ride to Munich’s world-class attractions …
Where our Festival of Friendship will welcome you
 
The Ice Park in Munich features five competition venues only ten minutes from the city centre …

The Olympic Village offers everything your athletes need for training, competing and relaxing in one secure environment

The Olympic Stadium will host 70,000 for opening and closing ceremonies—the largest live audience in Winter Games history

Two new Ice Arenas will host the Ice Hockey Tournament and Wheel Chair Curling.

Curling, Short Track and Figure Skating will be held right next door.

The Speed Skating Oval is only a short walk away.

From the Ice Park, the Snow Park is only an hour away on the high-speed autobahn or the train right next to it

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is the most popular alpine winter sports resort in Germany … sitting in a beautiful valley beneath the highest peak in the German Alps … the Zugspitze.

The Snow Park is compact and all the venues line up on the face of the mountains just five minutes away

The alpine speed events will be held on the Kandahar, which just hosted the FIS Alpine World Championships
 
The Hausberg Ski & Board arena will host Snowboard and Ski Cross

The Alpine Technical Events and Moguls will be held at Gudiberg
 
With Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined at the dramatic Olympic Ski Stadium
 
And Aerials just next door … and all these venues are served directly by train

The Snow Village and the Medals Plaza are in the
heart of the alpine town filled with a festival atmosphere

The Nordic Centre for Cross-Country and Biathlon is only 25 minutes away … on the scenic grounds of a 1,000 hectare ranch

And to the east, the famous Königssee Sliding Centre is ready for Bob, Luge and Skeleton … and just had the honour of hosting the FIBT World Championships.

The majestic panorama of a national park surrounds the venue

Back in Munich, the IBC will be located in the New Munich Trade Fair … one of the largest and best in Europe

And finally, the Medals Plaza will be at Marienhof in the heart of the city

And the heart of our Festival of Friendship

Flyover ends

That’s our Two-Park plan … with 90% of all events concentrated in the Ice Park and Snow Park

And 80% of the athletes within 5 minutes of their competition and training venues …

Now, to give you an idea of the experience we will create for every athlete and team, here’s Katarina

Katarina:

I came back to the Olympic Movement to do something for the athletes of the future to help Munich create a plan that delivers the ultimate athlete experience.

Because, when you choose a host city for the Olympic Games—summer or winter—you are choosing more than just geography.

You are making a choice about the kind of experience the athletes of the future should have.

In Munich in 2018, your Olympians and Paralympians will have just what they deserve the greatest experience of their lives.

Because the atmosphere will be everything they have ever dreamed of.

Full stadia, fans who cheer for everyone, a city filled with the festival spirit.

A nation completely swept up in the celebration.

A world fascinated by their stories and glued to their televisions.

And that is exactly what your athletes will experience in Bavaria.

We are not just promising full stadia. We guarantee full stadia.

Germany delivers record-breaking crowds at winter sport events year after year:

• 30,000 fans for Ski Jumping

• 90,000 for the annual Biathlon World Cup

• 360,000 for the Nordic World Ski Championships

• And, another world record, 77,000 fans, including me, for the opening game of the Ice Hockey World Championships last May

•  The FIBT Bob & Skeleton World championship at the Koenigssee Sliding Center this month attracted 40.000 spectators

•   And the FIS Alpine Ski World Championship last month drew 130.000 people

That’s the promise of Munich 2018:  a Festival of Friendship that creates a powerful and unforgettable experience for every athlete, every official, every guest and every fan in 2018, hopefully including you.

Video runs: (Sport Experience)

Thomas:

Dear friends and colleagues:

In Munich, we see an opportunity to deliver value to the entire Olympic Family by doing for the Winter Games what Germany did for the 2006 FIFA World CupTM … creating a true national celebration in all of major cities … lifting the global excitement to a new level.

The atmosphere that Bavaria creates around winter sports is unique.

You could see it and feel it at the FIS Alpine World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen last month.

Where the fans stayed and gave a standing ovation to Ukraine’s Bogdana Matsotska … even though she was the last skier and finished last in a long competition.

When you have a true winter sport tradition … and true winter sport passion … you give the athletes and the world something rare … something magical like we all could experience for summer sport at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

And that’s what we want to share through our Festival of Friendship … a modern, magical and sustainable Games … leaving no White Elephants, but extending the great 1972 Olympic legacy into the future.

Therefore, we want to reach out to the entire Olympic Family.

In the framework of Germany’s 50-year tradition of sport development partnerships with more than 150 NOCs, which have helped more than 100,000 athletes worldwide, we will open up Germanys Olympic Training Centers to the athletes of the NOCs - winter or summer.

To create for the first time side-by-side training camps for summer and winter athletes, to build friendships and benefit from each others training experiences.

The Munich bid is not only about creating the greatest possible athlete experience … it is about strengthening the entire Olympic Movement in new ways.

It’s no secret that already now approximately 50 percent of the revenues for the winter IFs on the Olympic program come from Germany’s corporate family.

Through the Winter Olympics in Munich those revenues would hit new benchmarks … strengthening the Winter Games for the future.

And as we all know, from a stronger Winter Games we all together would benefit … because about 40% of the financial resources of the Olympic Movement come from the Winter Games.

That’s the kind of legacy we want to leave through Munich 2018 - a legacy for the whole Olympic Movement … a Festival of Friendship ... in an Olympic atmosphere you’ll never forget.

Thank you.  This concludes our presentation.