Olympic Deja Vu

This past month Munich took its first major step to hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics. Partnered with Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berchtesgaden, Munich submitted their bid and launched the process for becoming the first city to ever host both the Summer & Winter Olympic games. The bid includes a two-cluster approach, with a set of ice sports in Munich, snow sports in Garmisch, and bobsled sports near Berchtesgaden. Some of the facilities already exist for these events, including the track at Schonau am Konigssee for bobsledding, luge and skeleton - where the 2011 championships will be hosted. Likewise, Garmisch will be hosting the World Alpine Championship in 2011. Munich facilities like the Aliance Arena can also be used possibly for opening/closing ceremonies. Either way, the road to the Olympics is a long one - with the deadline for the mini bid book submission in March 2010, and the final round of candidates selected in July, 2010. The final decision will be made in July of 2011. But with strong backing from BMW and Finanzgroup, we're sure to see a good bid.