2,012000 Votes Sought For Moscow 2012 Olympics Bid

May 20 - Moscow Sets Target Of 2,012,000 Votes In Support Of Its Bid To Host 2012 Olympic And Paralympic Games

The Moscow 2012 Bid Committee has set its sights on securing 2,012,000 votes in support of the city’s campaign to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games – and is determined to hit the target in less than six weeks. Bid Committee Chairman Valery Shantsev, who is also Moscow Vice-Mayor, will announce the target on Saturday at the opening of the annual Slava National Sports Awards held in the city’s Russian Army Theatre. Since the launch of the counter in November 2004, almost 1.2 million people have signed up as supporters of the bid.

In support of Moscow’s bid, Olympic champions and Russian athletes will step forward to press the Olympic counting machine, moved to the Russian Army Theatre from its usual place next to Red Square, and add their names to the mounting total of supporters.

“We have less than six weeks to reach our new target of 2,012,000 votes,” Valery Shantsev will tell to the assembled athletes. “On July 6 in Singapore the International Olympic Committee will take its decision on the city that is to host the 2012 Games. I have no doubt that we here in Moscow will not only hit our target of 2,012,000 votes by then but that the International Olympic Committee will recognise that the enthusiasm of the people of Moscow and Russia to host the Games is equaled by our ability to turn it into a unique and historic event. We will be holding events all over Moscow in June to encourage people to sign up as supporters of our bid.”

The Slava National Sports Awards recognise achievements by sportsmen and officials in sports inside and outside of the Olympic Movement. Valery Shantsev will be accompanied by Vyacheslav Fetisov, Chairman of the Federation Agency for Physical Culture and Sports, and Olympic champions and Moscow 2012 International Ambassadors, all of whom will speak in support of the capital’s bid.

Prominent Russian athletes and sports officials will receive awards for their achievements in various sporting events within and independently of the Olympic Movement. This year’s nominees include world-renown athletes such as Elena Isinbayeva, Anastasiya Myskina, Alexey Nemov, Evgeny Plyushchenko, Konstantin Tszyu, and Maria Sharapova.

An exhibition facility at the Awards venue will allow nominees, guests, and the media to view the unique Olympic Village concept proposed by Moscow as a key feature of its proposals for hosting the Games.

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