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At a press conference of the Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) in Vienna this week, Dr Leo Wallner (IOC Member and ÖOC President) and Gernot Leitner (Executive Director of Salzburg 2014) both drew positive lessons from Salzburg’s bid to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
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During its 2-year campaign, Salzburg 2014 was working hard and diligently towards one sole date: 4 July – that day, on which the IOC would make its decision of which city would have the honour to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014.
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He is dedicated, passionate and highly motivated in support of the Salzburg 2014 bid and Alfred Gusenbauer, Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Austria, demonstrated this with his timely arrival on Saturday afternoon, ahead of the IOC to decide which city will have the honour to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014.
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Salzburg has for centuries been regarded as one of the world’s cultural capitals. There are numerous reasons for this, beyond Mozart, its legendary Festival or being the birthplace of “Silent Night”. Salzburg is an exciting and versatile city which hosts over 3000 cultural events a year, including classical, rock, pop, folk and jazz concerts and plays. The Salzburg 2014 cultural concept is based on this tradition and would add many magic moments to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2014. While thematically the cultural programme is dedicated to youth, it would also include what Salzburg is already famous for: classical concerts and plays.
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The bid concept of Salzburg 2014 greatly appeals to the world’s athletes. Salzburg’s excellent geographic location with over 150 million people living within a day’s drive or train ride guarantee an enthusiastic crowd and full stadiums. Athletes will find best conditions and expertise in Salzburg. Austria has organised more than 250 World Championships and World Cups in the last ten years.
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 and the Salzburg 2014 Ambassadors Felix Gottwald and Manuela Riegler more... |
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Austrian officials today (Tuesday) bid farewell to the delegation of the Salzburg Olympic Bid, which is travelling to Guatemala for the final decision on the host city of the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. “Austria is backing Salzburg all the way”, was the unified message from Federal President Heinz Fischer, Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, Vice Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer, Governor Gabi Burgstaller, Mayor Heinz Schaden, Secretary of State Reinhold Lopatka, and President of the Austrian Olympic Committee Leo Wallner.
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Climate protection will stay the most important global environmental issue for the next decades. The Salzburg Bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014 has taken on responsibility and will compensate for the CO2 emissions of the Salzburg 2014 delegation’s flight to Guatemala City. Supported by the OMV Future Energy Fund, the proceedings from the compensation will be used to build up an environment-friendly small hydroelectric power plant in Indonesia.
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Exactly 20 days before the IOC will make its decision which city will have the honour to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Salzburg 2014 organised a “Fundraising Dinner” under the Chairmanship of the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Dr Heinz Fischer, in Vienna.
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As an Olympic host city, Salzburg is uniquely positioned and equipped to deliver an extraordinary number of benefits to the entire Olympic Movement. Recognized as one of the world’s most magical destinations and thanks to the fact that most of its Games time infrastructure is already in place, Salzburg would increase the global appeal of the Olympic Winter Games to the level of a “can’t miss” event.
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As scheduled, the IOC Evaluation Commission today released its report based on its inspections of Salzburg, PyeongChang and Sochi, the remaining candidate cities hoping to stage the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The overall concept proposed by Salzburg 2014 was described as “excellent” in the report. The IOC Evaluation Commission was also particularly impressed by the fact that the concept will bring back the thrill of the Olympic Winter Games for young people.
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Commission Recognizes Strength of Salzburg’s Vision
to Reconnect Young People to the Olympic Winter Games I am delighted that the IOC’s Evaluation Commission characterized the Salzburg 2014 bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as “an excellent concept” with a particular “focus on youth and providing a unique and memorable Games experience to young people.” more... |
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Chancellor Gusenbauer Reaffirms Full Guarantees from Austrian Government and Austria’s Passion for the Olympic Winter Games
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Franz Klammer, Olympic legend and Salzburg 2014 International Chairman, expressed his excitement today that the IOC Evaluation Commission Report recognized the vision of Salzburg for reconnecting the young to the Olympic Winter Games.
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The greatest challenges in hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are the long distances that so often separate the ice events in the city from the snow events in the mountains. These distances are often complicated by narrow alpine roads that restrict or limit access to remote venues. Salzburg 2014 has eliminated those distances with two venue clusters that are only 30 minutes apart—and it has eliminated the complications by aligning 10 of the 11 venues in its plan in locations that ensure access by its robust train system or autobahns.
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The environment is one of the three pillars of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and one of the top priorities on the global political agenda. As one of the founding members of the „Alpine Convention”, which was signed in Salzburg in 1991 and established the international protocols for environmental protection across the Alps, Austria has been a leading innovator in environmental protection and sustainability for decades. The environment is, therefore, a highly important aspect in the concept of Salzburg’s bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014 as well. The Games present a great opportunity for Salzburg to push the innovation of energy technology to new levels, creating an event that has low-emission benchmarks in energy production, achieves high levels of energy conservation and relies on sustainable transport systems.
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Salzburg Mayor Heinz Schaden Praises Decisive Leadership of AOC’s Leo Wallner
In a dramatic and decisive action today, the Austrian Olympic Committee’s Executive Board (EB), under the leadership of AOC President Leo Wallner, met in an emergency meeting and banned 14 officials from the Austrian Ski Federation from participation in all future Olympic Winter and Summer Games. more... |
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Fritz Strobl, Olympic Champion from Salt Lake City 2002 and runner-up at the Alpine World Championships in Are 2007 in the men´s downhill event, retired after a long and successful career as a skier. Now working as a policeman in Salzburg, his view that the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Salzburg will deliver a safe and secure environment can be considered totally reliable.
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To mark the final countdown to the vote in Guatemala City in which the IOC will select the host city for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2014, Salzburg 2014 is launching a final series of press releases that will provide “Proof of the Promise” of Austria’s readiness to host the Winter Games.
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The 70th congress of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) provided Salzburg 2014 with one last opportunity before the final presentation in Guatemala City, on July 4, to present the strengths of its bid to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to more than 300 accredited journalists from around the world. This year’s congress is taking place between May 14 and May 19 in Bregenz, Austria, and is being hosted by the Sports Journalists Associations of Switzerland and Austria, with support from the Liechtenstein association.
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In 50 days the Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will vote to decide which city will host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2014. It was 48 years ago this month that Austria’s first magic moment in an Olympic bid brought the Games to the nation. On 26th May 1959, in nearby Munich, 58 IOC members decided that Innsbruck, on its second attempt after its failed bid for the 1960 Winter Games, would host the 1964 Olympic Winter Games. The rest is history. Innsbruck broke all Olympic attendance records, drawing more than one million spectators to a magnificent celebration of winter sport for the first time. Only two winter host cities before Innsbruck had drawn 500,000 spectators, the last being Oslo in 1952.
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The annual World Congress of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) provides the perfect platform for the three candidate cities for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to present their concepts to more than 300 journalists from around the world.
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The 4th Salzburg AMREF Marathon will take place on Sunday, May 13th. This road race, which includes the national marathon Championships, is not just a sporting success. The marathon, which takes the competitors through one of the most beautiful cities in the world, is also an act of cultural exchange and cooperation. Each participant is supporting the aid organisation AMREF – “African Medical and Research Foundation including the Flying Doctors Service”. The donations from the 2007 Salzburg AMREF Marathon will be used to support an integrated health programme in southwest Kenya.
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The Salzburg Olympic bid is sending a delegation, led by IOC member and President of the Austrian Olympic Committee Dr. Leo Wallner, and Executive Director of Salzburg 2014, Rudolf Hoeller, to the finals weekend at the 2007 Ice Hockey World Championship in Moscow. Leo Wallner and Rudolf Hoeller will use this opportunity to hold productive discussions with members of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and to listen to their desires and suggestions.
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340 athletes from 47 countries line up at the 2007 VISA Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, the third time this event has been staged. Between May 7 and May 13, athletes at the largest annual, disabled, multi-sport event, go head to head in the disciplines of basketball, athletics, swimming and track cycling.
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Today in Vienna, the Austrian Olympic Committee (OEOC) and the Austrian Fencing Federation organised a birthday celebration to honour Ellen Mueller-Preis’ 95th birthday.
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May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day, which was founded in 1993 by the UN general assembly to encourage an independent and pluralistic press. On this day, Austria can look back on 158 years of press freedom and freedom of opinion, which has, in the meantime, been fixed by law. A symbol of the independent press is the “Wiener Zeitung“, the oldest newspaper still being published in the world, which has been going since August 8th, 1703.
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This season in the NHL, Thomas Vanek has been one of the superstars in the Buffalo Sabres’ battle for the traditional Stanley Cup. The Sabres currently stand in the play-off quarterfinal against the New York Rangers. For the 23-year old forward, and Austrian international, winning the Stanley Cup is a dream that could suddenly become a reality. This season the Sabres are one of the hot favourites to win the most important trophy in ice hockey. “To win the Stanley Cup would be incredible. You simply cannot compare it to anything else.”
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The Salzburg delegation, including Chairman and President of Salzburg 2014 Dr. Heinz Schaden, left Beijing feeling extremely happy on Friday. The SportAccord convention took place in the host city of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and gave the three candidate cities for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games the opportunity to present their concept to a select group of IOC members, high-ranking representatives and journalists from around the world.
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In Beijing, the host city of the next Olympic Summer Games, Salzburg 2014 passed another milestone in its bid for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014: In its presentation in front of a highly knowledgeable crowd including numerous IOC members, Salzburg 2014 represented by Heinz Schaden, Chairman and President of Salzburg 2014, Gabi Burgstaller, Governor of the State of Salzburg, Franz Klammer, Chairman International, Leo Wallner, President of the Austrian Olympic Committee (AOC) and Gernot Leitner, Executive Director of Salzburg 2014, showed its desire to host the 2014 Winter Games and stressed one of its most valuable point of sales – legacy.
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Following the official IOC Press Conference concerning the doping incident of Austrian athletes that was held during the sports conference SportAccord, Jacques Rogge, IOC President, and Thomas Bach, Chairman of the IOC Disciplinary Commission, announced that 6 Austrian winter sport athletes will be banned for life from all functions at Olympic Games. This decision of sanctioning the athletes was taken following the doping scandal at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2006 in Torino.
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Less than 70 days before the selection by the IOC of the host city for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014, the newest survey results show that the Austrian population is feverishly hoping for a positive result on July 4th and therefore strongly backing the Salzburg bid.
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Salzburg 2014 is continuing its international campaign: Between 24.04.2007 and 26.04.2007 a prominent Salzburg 2014 delegation will visit the 5th SportAccord in Peking, the largest annual convention for international sport. This is one of the last official appearances of the bidding cities for 2014 before the final vote in Guatemala on July 4th. The professional and highly motivated Salzburg delegation aims to use this congress to give IOC members and representatives of the 100 International Sport Federations affiliated to GAISF (General Association of International Sports Federations), ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations) and AIOWF (Association of the International Olympic Winter Sports Federations) a better understanding of the Salzburg concept for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
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Salzburg 2014 has created an Olympic Youth Festival concept creating the opportunity for a magical once-in-a-lifetime Olympic experience in a single day to reignite the passion of the young for winter sport and the Olympic Winter Games. With this programme Salzburg will respond to the challenge facing the Olympic Movement - to recapture the imagination of the young who are being lured away from sport, in both participation and television viewership.
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EU Commission member Benita Ferrero-Waldner, together with the special representative for external relations with the state of Salzburg, Consul Rudolf Frey, met with Vice-Governor Wilfried Haslauer and Salzburg 2014 Executive Director Gernot Leitner in Brussels in relation to the Salzburg Olympic bid. Haslauer and Leitner informed Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Consul Frey about the state of preparation for the Salzburg bid to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Salzburg is the only EU city bidding for these Games.
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For the 16th time Zell am See, in Salzburg, staged the largest junior ice hockey tournament in Europe: 1200 players and about 1000 accompanying person took part in the World Tournament for juniors between 10 and 16 years of age.
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The Snowboard Junior World Championships is currently taking place in the Salzburg winter sports paradise of Gastein. It is the last big event of the 2006/2007 season and the 300 athletes from 30 countries are benefiting from superb weather and perfect snow and piste conditions, despite the late time of year. Thanks to the experience gained hosting numerous World Cup events, the World Championships' organisers are able to offer the stars of tomorrow the best possible conditions to aid their sporting performance during what is the pinnacle of their season.
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Following their win at the national championships, eight players from the Salzburg championship team are now preparing for the Ice Hockey A- World Championships, to be held in Moscow, Russia from the 27th of April to 13th of May 2007. The players who will be attending the national team’s 11-day pre-tournament training camp include record national player Martin Ulrich and Salzburg 2014 Ambassador Dieter Kalt Jr. Salzburg is the club with the highest contingent of players picked for the 28-strong squad.
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Salzburg reigns supreme in ice sports – Austrian junior figure skating champion, Severin Kiefer, has already proven this and now EC Salzburg have confirmed it by winning the Austrian ice hockey championship.
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For the Flachau slopes, one of the two main alpine venues for Salzburg 2014, the 2006/2007 season has been a record year: By the end of the season, all nine lifts in the Flachau skiing region will each have registered over one million ascents – an achievement that will probably top the current record from last season by over 3%. Moreover the dream winter with its perfect snow conditions is far from over. Visitors from over 45 countries will be spending their Easter break in Flachau, the planned venue for the men’s Super G if Salzburg is chosen to host the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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On the 2nd of April 2007, the Laureus World Sports Awards - sport's answer to the Hollywood Oscars - was held for the seventh time. They were hosted for the second time in Barcelona, one of the cities with the greatest Olympic legacy to its name. The jury will boast the highest star-rating to date with all 46 members of the exclusive circle featuring among the world’s all-time sporting greats. Edwin Moses, Franz Beckenbauer, Morne du Plessis, Pelé, Martina Navratilova, Nadja Comaneci and Franz Klammer were just some of the champions who were gracing the event with their presence.
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After the successful visit from the IOC Evaluation Commission in mid-March, Salzburg 2014 immediately resumed its international campaign: in Tokyo and Pago Pago, members of the Salzburg 2014 international relations team met with decision-makers and experts to explain in more detail the Salzburg concept for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as well as to exchange knowledge and learn from their fellow speakers.
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Austria’s most successful Olympian, Felix Gottwald, ends his extraordinary career as a Nordic combined athlete at the end of the season. For the last 100 days before the decision is made in Guatemala City, Gottwald is devoting all his energy to Salzburg’s bid to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. His first international appearance will be at Sport Accord in Beijing, China.
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Austrian Olympic Figure Skating Champion and Salzburg 2014 Ambassador, Trixi Schuba, and Executive Director of Salzburg 2014, Gernot Leitner, are both attending the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo from the 19th to the 25th March in their capacity as official representatives of the Salzburg bid to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
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From the 14th to the 17th of March, the 13 members of the IOC Evaluation Commission, led by Chiharu Igaya, IOC member, visited Salzburg to make a technical assessment of the city’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014.
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Austria has taken another large step forward in the fight against doping in sport. Its Council of Ministers ratified the UNESCO Convention against Doping in Sport thus making a rapid parliamentary resolution possible. "The aim of the convention is the improved combating of doping in sport. International cooperation between the contracting states is to be intensified as part of the convention, in order to create as much uniformity as possible in the standards for the international fight against doping", commented Dr. Heinz Jungwirth, the General Secretary of the Austrian Olympic Committee (AOC).
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Glorious weather and snow-covered mountains formed the backdrop for the IOC Evaluation Committee visit, as it began on Wednesday in Anif city hall, the visit’s official conference centre.
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From the 14th to the 17th March the IOC Evaluation Commission, headed by IOC member Chiharu Igaya (JPN), will assess the Salzburg bid to host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The 13-strong commission of high-ranking sports officials arrived on Monday and was met at Salzburg’s W.A. Mozart airport by state governor, Gabi Burgstaller, and Mayor of Salzburg, Heinz Schaden. more... |
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From 14th to 17th March, the IOC Evaluation Commission will be visiting Salzburg to put Salzburg’s bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014 to the test. The commission will be inspecting and evaluating the Salzburg 2014 sites and venues, in the city of Salzburg, in Pongau, and in Bavaria’s Schoenau am Königssee. The final report will be reference material for the IOC General Assembly’s vote on awarding the Winter Games on 4th July in Guatemala City.
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At the end of the advertisement period for the post of Executive Director of Salzburg 2014 GmbH, Rudolf Hoeller and Gernot Leitner were appointed as joint Executive Directors of the bid company. Both were already provisionally entrusted with the management position following Fedor Radmann’s resignation for health reasons.
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Good news on the International Relations front for Salzburg 2014 with Salzburg native, Erwin Roth, successfully gaining responsibility for this area. Roth is an expert on the Olympic Family and a publisher and editor for many publications including “pro Sport Publishing”, an international publishing house specialising in sporting literature, with which he has been closely connected for over 25 years. One of the highlights of his publishing achievements is the series “The Olympic Games of the modern era”, 1896-today. During his time as executive partner of the Olympic Sports Library (OSB) and associate of various national Olympic Committees and Sports Aid Institutions, the “Sport helps People” initiative, founded by Roth himself, has to date provided tens of millions of dollars in support of junior, competitive and disability sport.
Since his first IOC session in Lake Placid in 1980, right up to the last session in Turin in 2006, Erwin Roth has been part of the Olympic Family. With his vast experience, he will be an important part of the Salzburg 2014 international relations team, which is led by Mayor Heinz Schaden, IOC Member and AOC President Leo Wallner, and Chairman International Franz Klammer. On the operational level, the team consists of AOC General Secretary Heinz Jungwirth, Executive Director of Salzburg 2014, Gernot Leitner and Andreja Wieser. more... |
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Austria’s premier address, Ballhausplatz 2, The Federal Chancellor’s Office, Vienna, served as the venue for presenting the Federal Chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer, with his personal 'Salzburg 2014 team outfit'. Dr Leo Wallner, IOC Member and President of Austria’s Olympic Committee, and Heinz Jungwirth, the General Secretary of Austria’s Olympic Committee as well as Trixi Schuba, Salzburg 2014 Ambassador and Olympic Ice Skating champion, made the presentation.
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Despite Europe facing its warmest winter for the last 500 years, the alpine skiing conditions in Salzburg's Olympic region are currently of a very high quality. As testified by the attached pictures, taken on 14 February 2007, the skiing conditions enjoyed by local, national and international visitors to the area are truly superb, and have been so for many weeks now. Exactly midway through the proposed period for the Games (7 to 23 February 2014) skiers are taking full advantage of superbly-prepared pistes and enjoying the superb views offered by Austria's ski resorts.
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Not a day goes by without members of the Salzburg 2014 team trying to introduce and explain the Salzburg bid concept for hosting the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to decision-makers and experts from around the world. No effort is too great, no distance too far: Leading the field is Dr. Heinz Schaden: The mayor of Salzburg and supervisory board chairman of Salzburg 2014 visited the Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (BOCOG) as part of a trip to Asia, to learn from the city’s preparations and expertise. "It is fascinating to see the logistical masterstrokes being made by Beijing to organise spectacular, perfect Olympic Games. Their dedication and expertise are impressive and I am sure that the Games China will present to the world will become a benchmark for future hosts." During his stay in Asia he also visited Shanghai, Salzburg’s twin city in China.
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Salzburg has, for decades now, been a world-class sporting and cultural destination, as testified by the ever-growing rise in the number of day and overnight visitors it welcomes. In addition, Salzburg is also valued extremely highly by the world of business, as was proven by being awarded second place, behind Dubai, in the prestigious “Conga Awards“ ceremony, held yesterday in Hamburg, Germany. The Conga Awards recognize the world’s best venues for organising congresses and conferences and the laureates are designated by an impressive panel composed of 25 000 professionals and experts. After Dubai and Salzburg, third place was awarded to the Austrian capital, Vienna, which itself placed ahead of world metropolises such as London and Paris.
The Conga Award for the best international Congress and Conference centre takes into account more than simply the meeting venues themselves, concerning itself also with a number of other factors, such as environment, cost-to-performance ratio, range of offers available, accessibility, location and events. more... |
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Various journalists from Salzburg’s 2014 competitor countries, Korea and Russia, have visited the Salzburg 2014 bid office. In the last four weeks, four Korean TV crews (2 from MBC, SBS and Gangwong regional TV) have each spent several days in Salzburg. The latest was the Berlin-based MBC European Team. The teams are interested in all aspects of the city and the country, and in particular the sporting and hosting venues which are part of the Salzburg 2014 bid concept.
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Today we have learned that Walter Mayer has dropped legal actions against Dr. Jacque Rogge, IOC President, and Dick Pound, Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and IOC member.
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