French PM reiterates state support for Annecy bid

ANNECY, France (AP) — French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has pledged state support for Annecy's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics on the eve of the IOC's evaluation commission visit.

After meeting with the members of the commission on Tuesday, Fillon told a news conference the whole country was supporting Annecy's bid team.

"I just welcomed the IOC's evaluation commission. I did it with the will to persuade them and to make us win," Fillon said during a ceremony in front of high-profile state representatives and IOC members Guy Drut and Jean-Claude Killy.

"Our support is not only institutional," Fillon said. "This is the whole France that is joining up."

Annecy is the first stop on the 11-member commission's tour. They will follow it with visits to the other candidates cities, Pyeongchang in South Korea, and Munich.

The panel, chaired by IOC member Gunilla Lindberg of Sweden, will inspect proposed venues and facilities and meet local organizers and officials during four days.

Fillon praised the technical qualities of the bid and its "two legendary hubs, Chamonix and Annecy."

"With proposed venues of great authenticity, an Alpine patrimony and exceptional weather conditions, we have all the qualities required to host exceptional Winter Games," he said.

Annecy is making its first Olympic bid, although France has staged the Winter Games three times — Chamonix 1924, Grenoble 1968 and Albertville 1992.

The International Olympic Committee will select the host city by secret ballot on July 6 in Durban, South Africa.

After the IOC sent a strong warning to French officials last June — criticizing the bid for having 10 standalone venues and multiple athlete villages in a dispersed area — Annecy officials revamped their plan, offering a new competition venue setup combined with a better transportation network including rail, road and motorway access. According to the plan, all competition events will be within a 20-mile radius.

But the Savoy lakeside resort is still considered to be running behind its rivals, especially after Drut and Killy said last year that the revamped approach had failed to impress IOC members and Annecy was still lagging in support.

"Contrary to what has been reported, Jean-Claude and I have been implicated in the bid from the start," Drut said. "Now we need to show that we can do it and that we want to do it. And I have the feeling that the atmosphere surrounding our bid has changed, people are seeing it differently. We are still outsiders, but it's a good position to be in."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is also reportedly planning a trip to Annecy during the week but his office has not confirmed the visit.

Annecy bid chief Charles Beigbeder, who was appointed last month after former Olympic gold medalist Edgar Grospiron stepped down amid disagreements over funding, said his main task now is to promote the bid internationally.

To convince IOC members, Annecy officials appointed Andrew Craig as a bid consultant last week. Craig is a Briton who worked as a senior adviser on winning Olympic bids for Vancouver, London and Sochi.

"It's important, but a single man can't make us win," Drut said.

French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno said the bid budget, which has been increased to 21 million euros ($29 million), is sufficient for a "dignified campaign."

"We are not going to make fools of ourselves twice in a year," she said, referring to the French football team's training strike at last year's World Cup. "It's impossible to say whether we are going to win or lose, but we can do what is necessary to win."