(Durban, ZAF) - French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno offered hope to Annecy, the French alpine town perceived as outsiders in the race to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, by saying she always won her events at the last gasp.
The 41-year-old displayed all her well-honed competitive spirit - which garnered her 12 national karate titles - here on the eve of the vote by the 90+ International Olympic Committee (IOC) members in a rousing rallying call for the Annecy bid.
Annecy, who are bidding to give France their first Winter Games since Albertville in 1992, are up against South Korea's Pyeongchang - runners-up on the last two occasions - and German candidate Munich, aiming to be the first venue to host both the Summer (1972) and Winter Games.
But Jouanno - who has been in her post since November last year - was adamant here Tuesday that Annecy were still in with a chance of upsetting the odds.
"Totally truthfully, I am more than anything a real fighter," said Jouanno, who will be joined by Prime Minister Francois Fillon for the final hours of lobbying.
"In all my competitions, I won them in the final straight.
"In any case, I am very proud of our candidacy. Things are never lost in advance and it is better to be the outsider.
"It is in this position that one can pull off surprises."
Jouanno, who showed she had lost none of her skills when she won the French national team karate title last year, used the successful campaign for the 2018 Ryder Cup as a prime example of pulling off a shock win.
"For the Ryder Cup, everyone told us 'it isn't worth going, you have no chance'.
"Something I believe is in the process of coming about. The meetings we have had since arriving in Durban are very positive.
"The members are more and more optimistic for us.
"People who weren't sure about the bid are a lot more positive about the candidacy."
Jouanno, who also ran her first marathon this year in Paris, has, however, had enough political experience to accept that despite more favourable comments about the bid that did not translate necessarily into votes.
"If I have learnt anything, it is that IOC members are very polite," said the married mother of three.
"Each time I meet a member he says to me 'Congratulations'.
"But I have distinguished between those who I saw before, for example several months ago, and those I see again today.
"They are much more convinced. Pivotal moments for the change in the image of Annecy came (the IOC Evaluation Commission visit in February), then at Lausanne (a technical presentation to IOC members by the candidates in May).
"And it is imperative we turn the screw, create a surprise, and produce a real thrill at the presentation."
Jouanno, previously minister for ecology, said that the proposed venues for the bid with their natural beauty stood out, and in a milder way than bid president Charles Beigbeder had done took aim at their rivals.
Pyeongchang have been seen by some to have had their bid largely bankrolled by Samsung - which has been denied by South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak - and Munich that they had to buy land for their alpine ski events.
"We have a real mountain, real snow, a unique level of excellence, a candidacy which has placed the priorities of the athletes first," she said.
"We are not here for business, but to make a gift of our mountains.
"10million tourists come every season to the Annecy region and it will be a formidable backdrop to promote Olympism, it is a determining element for them (IOC members)."
