With less than three months before the decisive vote, the three cities vying for the 2014 Winter Games took their campaign Wednesday to a group of key Olympic constituents, according to AP. The Austrian city of Salzburg appeared to cement its status as favorite in the presentations to a packed convention hall of international sports federation leaders, sports industry leaders, sponsors, television executives, IOC delegates and other members of the Olympic world. Sochi, Russia, and Pyeongchang, Russia, also made 15-minute pitches to the SportAccord assembly, the last major gathering of sports leaders before the International Olympic Committee picks the host city on July 4 in Guatemala City. There were no surprises in the speeches and video films. The most pointed moment came in an unscripted exchange between a South Korean delegate and the mayor of Salzburg. The Korean, a television journalist, asked whether Austria deserved to get the Olympics for a third time. Innsbruck held the Winter Games in 1964 and 1976. Mayor Heinz Schaden fired back that it had been 30 years since the last Innsbruck Games and, in a shot at Pyeongchang, noted that the Asian Games _ a huge Summer Olympics-style event _ had been awarded last week to Inchon, South Korea. Pyeongchang has been trying to counter suggestions that South Korea has already won its share of big sports events: It was also recently awarded the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu. Salzburg, meanwhile, irritated its rivals by quoting Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer as saying its bid «offers the Olympic movement something money can't buy.» That appeared to be a dig at the Russians, who are spending US$12 billion to develop the Sochi area into a winter sports center, and the Koreans, who are also pouring big sums into investment in the Pyeongchang area. Salzburg seemed to come off with the most effective presentation, playing up its tradition as a winter sports mecca at the heart of Europe with passionate fans. «If you combine the brand of the Olympic Games with the brand of Salzburg, you get a combination that will rock the world,» Schaden said. The mayor said Salzburg can deliver the same «magic» experienced at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, where winter sports-loving Norwegian fans provided a colorful backdrop to the competitions. «We will create that festival atmosphere, that spirit of celebration,» Schaden said. Sochi, hoping to take the Winter Games to Russia for the first time, brought in Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov to underline the top-level government support offered by President Vladimir Putin on down. He also sought to dispel concerns that the Olympics might be too big of a challenge for Sochi, which must build most venues from scratch. «Some say our plans are ambitious,» Zhukov said. «Ambition is something that has always driven Russia. All the Sochi infrastructure will be delivered on time.» As for Putin, Zhukov said, «He is 100 percent behind Sochi. He is focused on victory in Guatemala.» Pyeongchang, which nearly upset Vancouver in the vote for the 2010 Games four years ago, stressed its message of promoting peace and reconciliation on the divided Korean peninsula and expanding winter sports throughout Asia. Korean officials also emphasized their program of bringing youth from around the world to Pyeongchang to train in winter sports. 251739 apr 07GMT
