Bach, who is also President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), led Munich's bid for 2018 to the Association of National Olympic Committees here yesterday along with double Olympic figure skating gold medallist Katarina Witt.

Bach, an Olympic fencing gold medallist at Montreal in 1976, opened the Bavarian city's presentation in Spanish before switching effortlessly between English and French.

Bach's job in Olympic bids is usually to be the returning officer, delivering the details of the vote to IOC President Jacques Rogge to read out to the world.

But he is enjoying his new role.

He told insidethegames: "It's a really new exciting experience to sit on the other side.

"I really liked it because now you really know about both sides and what it means to put together such a candidature.

"Now the international campaign has started we are well prepared and we want to share the experience with the Olympic Family.

"We still want to learn what we could do better."

The feeling among those in the room at the Fairmount Acapulco Princess Hotel that contained representatives from 205 National Olympic Committees was that Munich had stolen an early advantage over its rivals Annecy and Pyeongchang with its slick presentation, which included a special video message from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Bach told insidethegames: "We tried to get our message across and it's up to the audience to form its opinion and take its decision.

"I think we have shown what unique things we could do for winter sports - with all the emotion, with the experience, with the sustainability."

Bach said during the presentation that Munich wanted to do for the Olympic Movement what Germany had done for the FIFA World Cup in 2006, widely considered to be the most fan-friendly in the tournament's history.

That aim is reflected in Munich's new strap-line, "Festival of Friendship".

Bach told insidethegames: "Olympic Games are not only about sports, it's about the whole atmosphere which the spectators enjoy.

"It is about sport but to deliver your best you need an atmosphere, an atmosphere with fans who know about your sports.

"You need an atmosphere in a cheerful city where you know you are appreciated because of your performance and because you are an athlete.

"This altogether makes a successful Olympics."

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