By DPA
Guatemala City : The Black Sea resort of Sochi early Thursday won the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics after Russian President Vladimir Putin successfully pleaded their case before the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The first-time bidders Sochi beat South Korea's Pyeongchang by 51 to 47 IOC votes even though none of the proposed 11 venues exist and the IOC had raised several concerns ranging from construction to the environment.
But the driving force of Putin and his team seemed irresistible to the IOC which already indicated that money and business was crucial when it eliminated the Austrian bidder of Salzburg in the first round of voting at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City.
The pre-election favourites Pyeongchang, for their part, were beaten like for the 2010 edition, when they lost by three votes to Vancouver, Canada. Like in that vote, Pyeongchang lost a first-round lead, having garnered 36 votes to Sochi's 34 and Salzburg's 25.
According to Olympic tradition, the IOC president, Jacques Rogge, personally made the host city announcement at a special ceremony after opening a sealed envelope.
The Sochi delegation screamed in joy, unfurled a Russian flag and chanted "Sochi, Sochi" after Rogge had announced the result. By that time Putin was long on his flight back home to Moscow.
"This is a key moment in Russian history. The Games will help Russia transition as a young democracy," said the elated Sochi bid chief Dmitry Chernychenko.
"We will not let you down. The Games will be fantastic and most valuable for Russia and the Olympic movement," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said that the Games would leave "one of the greatest legacies in Olympic history.
"They will change millions of lives," he said.
Zhukov said that Putin phoned Rogge from his plane after the announcement, "expressing his deep gratitude" and also promising "that Russia is determined to complete all projects on time and together with the IOC."
Putin spearheaded the Russian delegation Wednesday and pledged to spend a massive 12 billion dollars in turning the summer holiday destination into an all-year resort.
Putin promised "a safe, enjoyable and memorable experience" in the city of 400,000, with the election by the IOC also being a personal triumph for him.
All venues and most other infrastructure must be built from scratch but Rogge expressed his faith that the Russians will deliver.
"I have every confidence that Sochi will host excellent Games in 2014. Sochi presented a strong and visionary project," said Rogge.
Sochi never hid the fact that the bid is also economically driven, but the Games will now also give Russian athletes – traditionally among the best at Winter Olympics – some first class facilities and a lasting legacy, a point stressed by Rogge.
"The Russian project will leave a tremendous legacy: a sporting legacy for athletes and for Russia's young generations, who will be able to practise winter sports at home, as well as a social and economic legacy with infrastructure being used both in the winter and the summer.
"Sochi has placed young people at the heart of its project and developed a programme that will allow young Russians to be exposed to the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, and pursue their Olympic dream," the IOC president said.
Sochi will host the first Winter Games in Russia, which come 34 years after Moscow staged the boycott-marred 1980 Summer Olympics.
The Games are due to take place February 7-23, 2014, in the unique setting of palm trees and soaring nearby mountains, with a coastal and a mountain cluster. The Olympic budget is 1.5 billion dollars.
The Olympic Park is 25 km away from the city centre, which will see all the ice events, the athletes village and the medal's plaza as well. Snow events are in the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort.
The Pyeongchang presentation drew on politics with South Korean President Roo Moo Hyun and Gangwon province (where Pyeongchang is located) Governor Kim Jin Sun saying that awarding the Games could help foster peace and reconciliation with communist North Korea.
"I aspire to strengthen the hope and pave the way for unification. The IOC members can help make this happen," said Kim.
Pyeongchang were the pre-election favourites, having received the least negative remarks from the IOC evaluation committee that visited the three bidders earlier this year.
Ordinary IOC members are prohibited from visiting bidding cities since the bribes-for-votes scandal around Salt Lake City's successful bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
As a result, the evaluation committee report and the presentations were key facts and Putin's presence likely sung the vote.
Salzburg, which relied on far less financial backing, tried to lure the Games to a winter sport-crazy country in the heart of Europe with most venues existing.
Austrian Olympic Committee secretary general Heinz Jungwirth said that "it seems that some people are voting here who do not have any clue about winter sports" and Reinhold Lopatka, state secretary for sports, simply said: "not the sports offered, but financial interests won the day."
This issue also appears to be on the IOC's mind, as the bid-spending bids from Sochi and Pyeongchang drew some raised eyebrows.
"Too much money is involved and being spent," said Norwegian IOC executive board member Gerhard Heiberg.
The 2014 Games saw an original seven applicants but Almaty (Kazakhstan), Borjomi (Georgia), Jaca (Spain) and Sofia (Bulgaria) were dropped by the IOC in June 2006.