The two European candidates for the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics cranked up the pressure on front-runners Pyeongchang on Tuesday, on the eve of the decisive vote.

The German candidate Munich, which is bidding to become the first venue to host both the Summer (1972) and Winter Games, in particular rolled out some heavy hitters to bang the drum.

Their team left nothing to chance as they sensed they have built up the same momentum that carried the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi to victory at the expense of a devastated Pyeongchang for the 2014 Games.

Into town rolled President Christian Wulff and German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, emanating calm but optimistic at the same time that the majority of the 90+ International Olympic Committee (IOC) members will vote for them.

"I think Munich has presented an excellent bid," said Wulff.

"The great thing about Germany is that it is full of enthusiasts for winter sports, especially children. It would be a real present to host the Olympics."

Beckenbauer drew on his experience of having spearheaded a brilliant campaign to overcome the hot favourites South Africa and win the right to host the 2006 World Cup finals by a single vote.

"I hope the decision is not made yet," said Beckenbauer.

"You have to avoid making mistakes and don't put too much pressure on the IOC member you are addressing.

"Munich is my hometown and I would love to see the Winter Olympics there."

The Koreans have been much more low-key, publicly content to do their work where it matters, away from the public gaze, buttonholing the small electorate to shore up their votes.

The South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak said on Monday he considered it his duty and mission to deliver the Games to Asia and on Tuesday he had a chance to reiterate that point when he met IOC president Jacques Rogge.

It will be the final time the Belgian oversees a vote on a host city as his reign comes to an end in 2013, just before the vote on the host for the 2020 Summer Games.

Delegates from the French alpine town of Annecy continued to battle away in the refreshingly feisty style they have adopted since arriving here, showing an aggressivity and punchiness that was lacking in the early days of their campaign.

Their sports minister Chantal Jouanno fronted up on Tuesday and the 12-time French karate champion delivered some powerful verbal blows, while also emphasising that the outsider in a three-horse race can never be discounted.

"Totally truthfully, I am more than anything a real fighter," said Jouanno, who was 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 you can pull off surprises."

However, Beckenbauer is hoping that it is Munich and not Annecy that stuns Pyeongchang.

"(The 2006 World Cup) was a summer dream and now I am looking forward to a winter dream," he said.

Certainly for one of the candidates a dream will come true on Wednesday -- for the other two it will be the stuff of nightmares.