October 3, 2008 – France has confirmed its intentions to bid for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. The French Olympic Committee informed last Wednesday that it will put forward one of three interested cities: Annecy, Nice and Grenoble, the latter having hosted the Games in 1968. The selection is expected to take place in March. In addition to Grenoble 1968, France has staged the Olympic Winter Games previously in 1924 in Chamonix – the inaugural edition of the winter games – and in 1992 in Albertville. Paris was beaten in its bid for the 1992, 2008 and 2012 Summer Games by Barcelona, Beijing and London, respectively.

The IOC will begin the application process for 2018 after the campaign for the 2016 Summer Olympics ends next year. The IOC vote for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games is set for 2011 at the IOC Session in Durban (RSA).

FIS Autumn Meetings underway in Zürich

The FIS Autumn Meetings for all FIS disciplines will take place this week at the traditional venue of the Hilton Airport Hotel in Zurich (SUI) that provides an ideally situated location, excellent meeting facilities, as well as welcoming staff who look forward to the annual gathering of the FIS family. Following the detailed discussions and reviews of the previous two-year period that took place at the 46th International Ski Congress held in Cape Town (RSA) in May, the Autumn sessions concentrate on reviewing the work done in the past summer months and discussing the many practical items in anticipation of the 2008/2009 season.

The 6th FIS Youth and Children’s Seminar kicked off the Autumn Technical Meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday along with update sessions for the timing working group and the Alpine TD education along with the first Committee meetings. More than 50 participants from more than 30 nations gathered to review and provide feedback on the current status and future plans for the FIS campaign “Bring Children to the Snow.”

Facilitated by Ken Read (CAN), Chairman of the FIS Coordination Group for Youth and Children’s Questions together with Youth and Children’s Sub-Committee Chairmen Satu Kalajainen (FIN) and Polly-Jo Clark (USA) along with FIS staff and representatives of CNC, FIS’s agency partner, the seminar was well-received and provided great feedback and perspective for developing the next steps of the campaign.