2018 Winter Olympics bidding process begins

THE IOC have launched the bidding process for the 2018 Winter Olympics, marking the official start of the search for the host city.

The French Alps town Annecy, Munich and Pyeongchang have all stated their intentions to enter the race, while Harbin in north east China is also expected to bid.

"National Olympic Committees have been invited to submit the name of a city within their jurisdiction as an applicant to host the Games in a little under nine years' time," said an IOC statement.

NOCs must name candidate cities by October 15 and the IOC will confirm acceptance by the end of next June.

In the second stage of the process, candidate cities have to submit detailed descriptions of their projects. The winners will be chosen during an IOC session in Durban in July 2011.

Vancouver will stage next year's Winter Olympics and Sochi in Russia has been chosen to host the 2014 event.

Should Munich prove successful, it would become the first city to host both the Summer and the Winter Games in Olympic history.