Putin to travel to Guatemala for winter Olympics bid

GUATEMALA CITY, June 18 (Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin and the presidents of South Korea and Austria will travel to tropical Guatemala next month to lobby Olympic officials meeting to decide who will host the 2014 Winter Games.

''The three presidents of South Korea, Austria and Russia have confirmed they will be coming to Guatemala for the IOC meeting,'' an official at the Ministry of Foreign Relations told Reuters today.

At the July 4 session in Guatemala City, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will vote for in a three-way race between the Austrian city of Salzburg, South Korea's Pyeongchang and the Black Sea resort town of Sochi in Russia.

Joining Putin will be Austrian president Heinz Fisher and South Korean leader Roh Moo-hyun, whose countries edged ahead of Russia earlier in June when the IOC said their bids were ''excellent''.

Russia received a ''very good rating''.

Putin is pushing hard for the Games in an effort to showcase Russia's economic and political revival.

The country, a winter sports powerhouse, has never hosted the winter Olympics.

The government has promised 12 billion dollars to develop sports and tourism in the Sochi region, which would need to build from scratch nearly all the stadiums, ski courses, rinks and accommodation for the athletes.

REUTERS KN SBA BST0121