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Bids for the 1976 Winter Olympics

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Bids for the
1976 (1976) Winter Olympics
Overview
XII Olympic Winter Games
Winner: Denver
Runner-up: Sion, Switzerland
Shortlist: Tampere · Vancouver
Details
CommitteeIOC
Election venue70th IOC Session, Amsterdam
Map of the bidding cities
Missing location of the bidding cities
Missing location of the bidding cities
Important dates
Decision12 May 1970
Decision
WinnerDenver (29 votes)
Runner-upSion, Switzerland (18 votes)

The selection process for the 1976 Winter Olympics consisted of four bids, and saw Denver, Colorado, United States, selected ahead of Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The selection was made at the 70th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Amsterdam on 12 May 1970. The year 1976 was the centennial of the state of Colorado and bicentennial of the United States.

In early 1972, the venues for the skiing events were changed to established areas west of the continental divide, approved by the IOC in February. Alpine events were moved to Vail from the undeveloped Mount Sniktau (and Loveland Ski Area) east of Loveland Pass, and the Nordic events moved from Evergreen to Steamboat Springs. The original sites submitted in the 1970 bid satisfied a requirement of proximity to the Olympic Village (at the University of Denver).

Organizers in the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee had promised that the Games would only cost $14 million to be run, with Colorado Governor John Love stating that $5 million would come from taxpayers. However, rising costs and logistics soon came to plague the city, which included an idea of having bobsled events be held in Lake Placid, New York. A grassroots movement formed against having the Games in Denver. Later that year on 7 November, Colorado voters rejected partially funding the games in a referendum, and for the first time a city awarded an Olympics rejected them. Denver officially withdrew on 15 November, and the IOC then offered the Olympics to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they declined, owing to a change of government following elections. Whistler was later part of neighbouring Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Original runner-up Sion also declined. Salt Lake City, Utah, initially offered to host, then pulled its bid, and was replaced by Lake Placid, New York. At a meeting of the IOC executive committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 4 February 1973, the 1976 Winter Olympics were transferred from Denver to Innsbruck, which had recently hosted in 1964. The next Winter Olympics were in the United States at Lake Placid (awarded in October 1974), and Salt Lake City hosted in 2002 and will again in 2034.

Results

IOC voting – May 1970
City Country Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Denver  United States 29 29 39
Sion    Switzerland 18 31 30
Tampere  Finland 12 8 —
Vancouver–
Garibaldi		  Canada 9 — —
Source:
IOC re-selection – February 1973
City Country Rank
Innsbruck  Austria 1
Lake Placid  United States 2
Chamonix  France 3
Tampere  Finland 4
Source:

References

  1. ^ "Past Olympic host city election results". GamesBids. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
  2. "Denver and Montreal awarded 1976 Olympic Games". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. 13 May 1970. p. 13.
  3. "Denver, Montreal shock Olympic site hopefuls". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. 13 May 1970. p. 1D.
  4. ^ "Way cleared for '76 Games as Denver changes okayed". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 1 February 1972. p. 2B.
  5. ^ "Olympic notes: Appeal on Schranz rejected". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. 1 February 1972. p. 30.
  6. Rapaport, Roger (15 February 1971). "Olympian snafu at Sniktau". Sports Illustrated. p. 60.
  7. "Story of Denver's disastrous bid for 1976 Olympics". 6 February 2018.
  8. "Winter Olympics out in Colorado". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. 8 November 1972. p. A4.
  9. "Voters reject 'privilege'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 8 November 1972. p. 1C.
  10. Sanko, John (12 October 1999). "Colorado only state ever to turn down Olympics". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  11. "IOC moves toward site for Olympics". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon. Associated Press. 16 November 1972. p. 4D.
  12. "Salt Lake withdrawal may not leave U.S. out". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. 31 January 1973. p. 10.
  13. "Lake Placid assured of welcome". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. 2 February 1973. p. 22.
  14. ^ "Innsbruck gets '76 Games". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. 5 February 1973. p. 10.
  15. ^ "Innsbruck given Winter Olympics". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. 5 February 1973. p. 25.
  16. Miller, Geoffrey (24 October 1974). "Lake Placid given unanimous approval". Schenectady Gazette. (New York). Associated Press. p. 33.
  17. Wimmer, Ferry (23 October 1974). "Moscow, Lake Placid awarded Olympics". Nashua Telegraph. (New Hampshire). UPI. p. 38.

Further reading

  • Berg, Adam (2023). The Olympics that Never Happened: Denver '76 and the Politics of Growth. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 9781477326459.
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