Salzburg, Pyeongchang edge ahead in 2014 race

ATHENS, June 4 (Reuters) The Austrian city of Salzburg and South Korea's Pyeongchang look to have edged ahead in a tight three-way race for the 2014 Winter Games after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said their concepts were ''excellent''.

The other bidder, Russia's Sochi, received a ''very good'' rating for its concept today and also won praise for its transport plans and financial guarantees.

In an Evaluation Commission report released on Monday, one month before the IOC decides on the host city, Salzburg may have won votes for the large number of already existing venues but would need to improve on several issues.

Sochi would have to build all 11 competition venues from scratch, a process that would be ''tightly monitored'' by the IOC.

Pyeongchang would have to build seven of 11 venues and reconstruct one.

''Today we have moved one step closer to our goal of hosting the Winter Games,'' Heinz Schaden, president of Salzburg 2014 and the city's mayor, said in a statement.

''The detailed evaluation in the report clearly establishes the quality and excellence of Salzburg's plans,'' he said.

Pyeongchang was equally upbeat following the report.

''We are delighted that the IOC Evaluation Commission has made such a favourable assessment of Pyeongchang's bid,'' bid committee chairman Han Seung-soo said. ''The Commission recognised the high standard of Pyeongchang's bid in many areas.'' The IOC's commission visited all three cities earlier in the year to evaluate a range of key issues including venues, transportation, accommodation, security and financing.

LASTING LEGACY IOC members will decide on the winning bid during their session in Guatemala on July 4.

Sochi said the Games would leave a lasting legacy with new sports venues for Russian athletes.

''We are pleased that the members of the Evaluation Commission have praised our visionary and innovative Games plan,'' Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said.

''Sochi's brand new venues and facilities will lead to an incredible winter sport legacy that will benefit the region, Russia and the whole Olympic Movement,'' he said.

Pyeongchang's 1.257-billion dollars and Sochi's 1.517-billion dollars Games budgets were considered ''achievable'' and financial guarantees were satisfactory, while Salzburg's 965-million dollars budget was deemed ''relatively low'' compared to previous Winter Games.

The commission said Sochi and Pyeongchang enjoyed strong public support while Salzburg's bid was backed by 42 percent of the city's residents and 61 percent of Austrians.

Salzburg's bid has come under a cloud after Austria's Olympic Committee was fined $1 million over a doping affair at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin.

Sochi and Pyeongchang have met requirements for accommodation, guaranteeing the 22,800 rooms requested by the IOC, while Salzburg fell just short of that figure.

South Korea is bidding to become only the second Asian nation following Japan to host the Winter Olympics, while Russia, a traditional winter sports powerhouse, has never hosted the Winter Games.

REUTERS BJR ND1724