Four cities make cut for 2010 Winter Games

<br>LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) _ The front-running cities of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Salzburg, Austria, were among four finalists selected Wednesday in the race for the 2010 Winter Olympics. <br><br>Bern,

Wednesday, August 28th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) _ The front-running cities of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Salzburg, Austria, were among four finalists selected Wednesday in the race for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Bern, Switzerland, and Pyeongchang, South Korea, also made the cut as the International Olympic Committee executive board halved the field of eight candidates to a short list of official bidders.

Eliminated from the race were Andorra La Vella, Andorra; Harbin, China; Jaca, Spain, and Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Also under way is the competition for the 2012 Summer Games. On Tuesday, the U.S. Olympic Committee selected New York and San Francisco as the American finalists for the 2012 bid. Houston and Washington were passed over.

The 2010 winner will be selected by the full IOC assembly at its session in Prague, Czech Republic, in July, 2003.

Vancouver and Salzburg are considered the strong favorites. But, by selecting four cities, the IOC keeps the race open and allows for Asian representation by including a Korean bid.

The IOC board relied on a report by a special panel which graded the eight cities on various technical criteria, including sports venues, infrastructure and financing.

Vancouver and Salzburg scored the highest, with overall marks above a benchmark set by the commission. The Swiss and Korean bids were selected despite pointed criticism in the report's conclusion.

The report said Bern's bid ``does not best respond to the needs of the athletes and could create significant organizational difficulties.'' On Pyeongchang, it cited serious problems with the Yongpyong resort.

Jack Poole, chairman of the Vancouver bid, said the city and Canada were ``honored'' by the selection. ``We are proud to today call ourselves an official candidate city,'' he said in a statement.

``Just last week, Austria experienced the worst natural disasters of the century, causing terrible suffering for many people,'' said Egon Winkler, who heads the Salzburg bid. ``We hope that this decision by the IOC will help to bring added pride to many of our people.''

Kim Nam-soo, managing director of the Pyeongchang bid, said he was ``pleased and proud.'' Asked if the city could overcome the failings shown in the report, he replied: ``We will do our best.''

The Swiss Olympic Committee said: ``This is a clear confirmation that Switzerland has a convincing and feasible project.''

The IOC will send a panel of experts to visit the finalists cities and compile a detailed report on their sports venues, financial plans and other technical issues. Site visits by IOC members remain prohibited as part of the reforms enacted following the Salt Lake City bid scandal.

For the first time, the cities were required to pay a fee ($100,000) to enter prospective bids. The four finalists will have to pay an additional $500,000 to cover the costs of the selection procedure.

As part of a cost-cutting measure, the finalists won't be allowed to launch any international promotional campaigns until Jan. 10, 2003.

As usual, geopolitical factors should come into play in the race.

Geography does not favor Europe, which has the 2004 Summer Olympics (Athens, Greece) and 2006 Winter Games (Torino, Italy).

Several European cities _ including Rome, Paris, Moscow and Madrid _ are lining up bids for the 2012 Summer Games and would not want the previous games in Europe.

With the 2008 Summer Games in China, Asia stands little chance for 2010.

Geographical rotation points toward North America, giving Vancouver a major boost. Also, Europeans could favor Canada in 2010 to take North America out of play for the 2012 games.

Vancouver, nestled in a west coast bay surrounded by towering mountains, features a so-called ``Sea-to-Sky'' highway connecting the city with the ski resort of Whistler.

Salzburg, the city of Mozart's birthplace, would have downhill skiing at Kitzbuehel as well as other world-class venues.

Bern, making Switzerland's fourth attempt for the Winter Games since 1969, hopes to make up for Sion's surprise defeat to Torino for the 2006 games.

Pyeongchang is in South Korea's mountainous eastern province of Kangwon, 112 miles from Seoul. It held Alpine World Cup ski races in 1998 and 2000.