Witt is leading a delegation to the Swiss city where Munich, along with rivals Annecy and Pyeongchang, they will give a technical briefing to more than 60 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members on Wednesday (May 18). 

Witt put her name in the Golden Book, which is signed by Olympic champions, and was reunited with the red dress she wore when she won the second of her gold medals, at Calgary in 1988. 

"As a former athlete it is fantastic to be here in Lausanne - the birthplace of the modern Olympic Movement," said Witt, who won her first gold medal at Sarajevo in 1984.

"Signing the legendary Golden Book is a real honour for me, but even more important is the chance we have here to make a real impact on the IOC members just as we enter the final stages of our candidature.


"After our excellent feedback from the IOC Evaluation Commission last week, we are looking forward to sharing our Festival of Friendship concept."

Witt will be joined in Lausanne by Thomas Bach, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and vice-president of the IOC; Hans-Peter Friedrich, Germany's Federal Minister of the Interior; Christian Ude, Lord Mayor of Munich; former fencer Claudia Bokel, IOC member and Olympic silver medallist; Magdalena Neuner, the double 2010 Olympic biathon champion; Ian Robertson, BMW Group's head of sales and marketing; and Bernhard Schwank, the chief executive of Munich 2018.

Witt will also come face-to-face for the first time on the international stage with Kim Yu-Na, the 2010 Olympic figure skating champion, who is in Lausanne representing the Pyeongchang bid.

Before leaving Seoul, the 20-year-old Kim (pictured) told reporters prior that she will explain to the IOC how well prepared Pyeongchang is to host the Winter Games.

But she also admitted she was a little bit nervous.

"Honestly I am a little worried," said Kim, who won the silver medal in last month's World Championships in Moscow.

"As I spent lots of time to prepare for the World Championships I didn't have much time to prepare well for this."

"First of all I will speak on PyeongChang's perfect preparation.

"I will emphasize the short distance to the venues which will be hugely convenient for the athletes.

"I will also explain that it's been long time since the Winter Games were in Asia and highlight that Pyeongchang's bid is supported by the citizens the most among candidate cities."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]