Annecy were the first to hand their plans over but their delegation did not include Charles Beigbeder, the French businessman who is set to replace Edgar Grospiron as the chief executive after the Olympic moguls champion quit because he complained that the French city did not have the resources to compete with its rivals, who also include Munich.

Annecy's delegation was led instead by the President of the French Olympic Committee, Denis Masseglia, and also featured several sports personalities including former Olympic slalom champion Jean-Pierre Vidal.

A high-level delegation travelled from South Korea to deliver Pyeongchang's File, the third consecutive time that they have bid for the Games, having narrowly lost out to Vancouver for 2010 and Sochi for 2014.

It was led by Yang Ho Cho, the chairman and chief executive, and also included Kwang-bae Kang, Pyeongchang's sports director and coach of South Korea's bobsleigh team, and Min-kyung Choi, a short track speed skater who won Olympic gold medals at Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002.

"It is a great honour for Pyeongchang 2018 to be here in Lausanne to deliver our Candidate File to the IOC and present our unique vision for the 2018 Winter Games," said Cho outside the IOC's headquarters.

"We are delighted to highlight to the Olympic Family the benefits of new growth and new potential that a Winter Games in PyeongChang will bring – a world of 'New Horizons'.

"We believe we have developed a strong technical file and a compelling Winter Games Plan that will create an ideal setting for the athletes, fans and the Olympic Family.

"Our athlete-friendly Games Plan includes the most compact and efficient venue layout, a revolutionary multi-transport network linking the venue clusters, and a legacy strategy that will create the most modern and sustainable Winter Sports hub in Asia to serve athletes for generations to come.

"Pyeongchang 2018's bid also offers the Olympic Movement something very special – we can spread important Olympic values to a new part of the world, help a young and dynamic population in the continent connect with the spirit of Olympism, and inspire a new generation of Winter Sports athletes. Korea's new economic, cultural and sporting dynamism provides the ideal platform to help us achieve this ambition."

Munich, meanwhile, are due to deliver their Candidate File in Lausanne tomorrow following a send-off today in front of thousands of supporters on the Marienplatz in the historic city centre, where the Mayor Christian Ude handed over the 396 page book to double Olympic skating champion Katarina Witt.

The passage of File is being assisted by Deutsche Post – unveiled today as a new Munich 2018 National Sponsor.



"This Bid Book demonstrates the core values at the heart of Munich 2018: an athlete-friendly, compact concept with solid planning for sustainability and the environment," said Witt.

"The document that we will deliver tomorrow is a powerful demonstration of the close relationship with athletes that is the foundation of Munich 2018's promise to the Olympic Movement."

Thomas Bach, the President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, chair of the Munich 2018 Shareholders Assembly and IOC vice-president, drew on his experience as an IOC Evaluation Commission member to predict that this period of the bid leading up to the final vote at the IOC Session in Durban on July 6 will prove vital.

"The Candidature File leaving Munich marks the beginning of the bid's final phase," he said.

"Tomorrow will be a great day and a huge milestone for Munich's bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018.

"Now the Bid Committee must work hard to spread the message of the Festival of Friendship to world and keep Germany's unrivalled capacity for hosting winter sports events and the unique environmental and sustainability concept at the forefront of everyone's minds."

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