As a two-time Olympic gold medalist and celebrated figure in her sport, Katarina Witt has plenty in common with Sebastian Coe.
It makes perfect sense then for the German figure skating diva to turn to the British running great for advice on how to claim another Olympic prize: the right to host the 2018 Winter Games.
Witt has been sounding out Coe, who led London's winning bid for the 2012 Olympics, while she travels the world as the face of the campaign to bring the games to Munich.
''I know he was a key for the London bid, so why not go and ask about the experience he had?'' Witt said in an interview with The Associated Press during recent Olympic meetings in Acapulco, Mexico, where she and Coe chatted at length at a corner table in the hotel lobby.
Witt won the figure skating gold medal at the 1984 and 1988 Winter Games. Coe won back-to-back golds in the 1,500 meters in 1980 and '84. They've known each other for years and are members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, which selects an annual sportsman and sportswoman of the year.
Witt recalled that Coe was part of a British delegation that came to watch her skate in the former East Berlin in 1988. It's that shared history of Olympic glory that she hopes can translate into another victory when the IOC selects the 2018 host city by secret ballot in Durban, South Africa, on July 6.
''We can bring so much experience and passion and love that we have for sport,'' Witt said. ''We can be a role model for young athletes as well. You can see how much sport has influenced us. The passion for sport is still there. You just try to pass it on.''
After Acapulco, Witt traveled to London this week for a global sports industry conference, where she met more Olympic officials and talked about Coe's influence on bidding.
''I spoke to Seb a few months ago and he told me, 'You forget the rest of your life and concentrate on one thing. It's like the Olympics. You prepare for one meet. You live and you breathe and you fight for it.'
''The things he told me made sense. It's always nice to have people you can ask advice from.''
Munich - which hosted the 1972 Olympics and is seeking to become the first city to host both the summer and winter games - is competing against Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Annecy, France.
The three cities made their first public presentations in Mexico, and will make their next pitches on Nov. 13 at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Then it's on to the European Olympic Committees assembly Nov. 26-27 in Belgrade, Serbia. Further key presentations will be made next year in London and Lausanne, Switzerland.
Pyeongchang, which is bidding for the third consecutive time after narrow losses for the 2010 and 2014 Games, is seen as the front-runner as it pushes its case for taking the games to new territory in Asia.
''We offer a new political reality, new markets, new potential,'' Pyeongchang bid leader Cho Yang-ho said.
Pyeongchang's bid would seem to benefit from the trend of taking major sports events to new areas: the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia; the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro; the 2010 World Cup in South Africa; and this year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Witt contends it would be a mistake for the IOC to neglect the European Alps.
''You have to water your roots. You have to keep your traditions and nurture your heartland,'' she said. ''If you don't, the athletes can slowly disappear. Sport is driven by individual stars. They can only come if they have role models. That happens when your heroes are your own national stars.''
Munich proposes to stage the indoor events in the Bavarian capital and the snow competitions in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which hosted the games in 1936. Germany can deliver games with ''the flair of the city combined with the fairy tale of Lillehammer,'' Witt said, referring to the little Norwegian town that hosted magical winter games in 1994.
Munich's bid was hampered earlier this year by the refusal of some farmers to cede their land in Garmisch for use during the Olympics, but Witt said the issue has been largely resolved.
''More than 80 percent are in favor,'' she said. ''It's always hard to have 100 percent support. We know the majority is supporting us. Things are on the right level on the political side. Communication channels are open.''
IOC votes are often influenced by factors far removed from the technical merits of the bids. With Rome seeking the 2020 Summer Games and Madrid and other European cities also weighing possible bids, European voters could turn against Munich and Annecy to give their own bids a better chance for 2020.
It's something Witt is aware of and knows she can't control.
''You try to focus on your own bid,'' she said. ''You just give the best you can give and hope and cross your fingers that the decision will be made for the best offer.''
