The Winter Olympics are a multi-sport event in winter sports organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) every four years. Selection of the host city is done at an IOC Session four to seven years prior to the tournament, in which the IOC members vote between candidate cities which have submitted bids. As of the selection of the 2018 Olympics, 23 games have been held in 20 cities in 11 countries. Bids have been made by 56 cities in 23 countries.
The bid process consists of two rounds. First, cities and national Olympic committees (NOCs) may show their interest and submit a preliminary bid, becoming applicant cities. Through analysis of the questionnaires, the IOC gave a weighted-average score to each city based on the scores obtained in each of the questionnaire's eleven themes: political and social support, general infrastructure, sports venues, Olympic Village, environment, accommodation, transport, security, past experience, finance, and legacy. IOC's Executive Committee then selects a short-list of candidate cities. The candidate cities are investigated by the IOC Evaluation Committee, who make an evaluation report. These submit a more extensive bid book and are subject to additional evaluation, which is presented to the IOC members. Voting occurs as an exhaustive ballot, which may occur through multiple rounds until a single city holds a majority of the votes. IOC members from a candidate NOC may not vote in any round while their country remains in the election.
The first games were not subject to bids and awarded to Chamonix as part of Paris' bid for the 1924 Summer Olympics. Originally the host country of the Summer Olympics had the right to host the Winter Olympics as well, if they could provide a suitable host. The 1940 Olympics were originally awarded to Sapporo, but it and the 1944 Winter Olympics were ultimately canceled due to the Second World War. The 1976 Olympics were awarded to Denver, but in a 1972 referendum, voters rejected the games, and for the only time a city awarded the Games rejected them. IOC then offered them to Whistler, but a change of government meant they were no longer interested. Salt Lake City offered to host the games, but IOC finally chose Innsbruck instead. From 1994, Winter Olympics were held between Summer Olympic years. Starting with the 2004 Olympics, only the highest-rated cities are short-listed for the final IOC vote.
Innsbruck, Lake Placid, and St. Moritz are the only cities to have hosted two games. Albertville, Grenoble, Nagano and Turin have never lost a bid. With six, Lake Placid has the most bids, followed by Cortina d'Ampezzo with five. Montreal and Jaca have both made four bids without any being successful. Helsinki, Minneapolis, Montreal and Munich have bid for both Summer and Winter Olympics; all but Minneapolis have succeeded at winning Summer bids, but none have held Winter Olympics. Canada and the United States have bid thirteen and twelve times respectively, with the US being awarded four and Canada two games. Other countries to host multiple games are France (3), Austria (2), Italy (2), Japan (2), Norway (2), and Switzerland (2). Sweden and Finland have bid eight and five times respectively, all unsuccessfully.
By year
The following is a list of bids for the Winter Olympics, sorted by year. It consists of the year the games were held or scheduled to be held, the date the decision was made, the city and country which issued the bid, the votes at the IOC Session for each voting round, and the ultimate host of the games. The bid listed first for each games is the one selected by the IOC, whether or not it ultimately hosted the games.
| Year | Session | Bid(s) | Vote | Host | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | |||
| 1924 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |  Chamonix
|
| 1928 | — | St. Moritz |  Switzerland |
— | — | — | — | — | — | St. Moritz
|
| Davos | Switzerland
| |||||||||
| Engelberg | Switzerland
| |||||||||
| 1932 | 4 October 1929 | Lake Placid |  United States |
— | — | — | — | — | — | Lake Placid
|
| Bear Mountain | United States
| |||||||||
| Denver | United States
| |||||||||
| Duluth | United States
| |||||||||
| Lake Tahoe | United States
| |||||||||
| Minneapolis | United States
| |||||||||
| Montreal |  Canada
| |||||||||
| Oslo |  Norway
| |||||||||
| Yosemite Valley | United States
| |||||||||
| 1936 | — | Garmisch-Partenkirchen |  Germany |
— | — | — | — | — | — | Garmisch-Partenkirchen
|
| Montreal | Canada
| |||||||||
| St. Moritz | Switzerland
| |||||||||
| 1940 | 31 August 1936 | Sapporo |  Japan |
— | — | — | — | — | — | Cancelled
|
| 1944 | — | Cortina d'Ampezzo |  Italy |
16 | — | — | — | — | — | Cortina d'Ampezzo (cancelled)
|
| Montreal | Canada |
12 | ||||||||
| Oslo | Norway |
2 | ||||||||
| 1948 | — | St. Moritz | Switzerland |
— | — | — | — | — | — | St. Mortiz
|
| Lake Placid | United States
| |||||||||
| 1952 | 21 June 1947 | Oslo | Norway |
16 | — | — | — | — | — | Oslo
|
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | Italy |
9 | ||||||||
| Lake Placid | United States |
2 | ||||||||
| 1956 | 28 April 1949 | Cortina d'Ampezzo |  Italy |
31 | — | — | — | — | — | Cortina d'Ampezzo
|
| Montreal | Canada |
7 | ||||||||
| Colorado Springs | United States |
2 | ||||||||
| Lake Placid | United States |
1 | ||||||||
| 1960 | 16 June 1955 | Squaw Valley |  United States |
30 | 32 | — | — | — | — | Squaw Valley
|
| Innsbruck |  Austria |
24 | 30 | |||||||
| Garmisch-Partenkirchen |  Germany |
3 |
— | |||||||
| St. Moritz | Switzerland |
3 | — | |||||||
| 1964 | 26 May 1959 | Innsbruck | Austria |
49 | — | — | — | — | — | Innsbruck
|
| Calgary |  Canada |
9 | ||||||||
| Lahti |  Finland |
0 | ||||||||
| 1968 | 28 January 1964 | Grenoble | France |
15 | 18 | 27 | — | — | — | Grenoble
|
| Calgary |  Canada |
12 | 19 | 24 | ||||||
| Lahti | Finland |
11 | 14 | — | ||||||
| Sapporo | Japan |
6 | — | — | ||||||
| Oslo | Norway |
4 | — | — | ||||||
| Lake Placid | United States |
3 | — | — | ||||||
| 1972 | 25 April 1966 | Sapporo | Japan |
32 | — | — | — | — | — | Sapporo
|
| Banff | Canada |
16 | ||||||||
| Lahti | Finland |
7 | ||||||||
| Salt Lake City | United States |
7 | ||||||||
| 1976 | 12 May 1970 | Denver | United States |
29 | 29 | 39 | — | — | — | Innsbruck
|
| Sion | Switzerland |
18 | 31 | 30 | ||||||
| Tampere | Finland |
12 | 8 | — | ||||||
| Vancouver | Canada |
9 | — | — | ||||||
| 1980 | 13 October 1974 | Lake Placid | United States |
— | — | — | — | — | — | Lake Placid
|
| 1984 | 18 May 1978 | Sarajevo |  Yugoslavia |
31 | 39 | — | — | — | — | Sarajevo
|
| Sapporo | Japan |
33 | 36 | |||||||
| Gothenburg |  Sweden |
10 | — | |||||||
| 1988 | 30 September 1981 | Calgary | Canada |
35 | 48 | — | — | — | — | Calgary
|
| Falun | Sweden |
25 | 31 | |||||||
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | Italy |
18 | — | |||||||
| 1992 | 16 October 1986 | Albertville | France |
19 | 26 | 29 | 42 | — | 51 | Albertville
|
| Sofia |  Bulgaria |
25 | 25 | 28 | 24 | — | 25 | |||
| Falun | Sweden |
10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 41 | 9 | |||
| Lillehammer | Norway |
10 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 40 | — | |||
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | Italy |
7 | 6 | 7 | — | — | — | |||
| Anchorage | United States |
7 | 5 | — | — | — | — | |||
| Berchtesgaden | Germany |
6 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1994 | 15 September 1988 | Lillehammer | Norway |
25 | 30 | 45 | — | — | — | Lillehammer
|
| Östersund | Sweden |
19 | 33 | 39 | ||||||
| Anchorage | United States |
23 | 22 | — | ||||||
| Sofia |  Bulgaria |
17 | — | — | ||||||
| 1998 | 15 June 1991 | Nagano | Japan |
21 | — | 30 | 36 | 46 | — | Nagano
|
| Salt Lake City | United States |
15 | 59 | 27 | 29 | 42 | ||||
| Östersund | Sweden |
18 | — | 25 | 23 | — | ||||
| Jaca |  Spain |
19 | — | 5 | — | — | ||||
| Aosta | Italy |
15 | 29 | — | — | — | ||||
| 2002 | 16 June 1995 | Salt Lake City | United States |
54 | — | — | — | — | — | Salt Lake City
|
| Östersund | Sweden |
14 | ||||||||
| Sion | Switzerland |
14 | ||||||||
| Quebec City | Canada |
7 | ||||||||
| Graz | Austria |
— | ||||||||
| Jaca | Spain |
— | ||||||||
| Poprad-Tatry |  Slovakia |
— | ||||||||
| Sochi |  Russia |
— | ||||||||
| Tarvisio | Italy |
— | ||||||||
| 2006 | 19 June 1999 | Turin | Italy |
53 | — | — | — | — | — | Turin
|
| Sion | Switzerland |
36 | ||||||||
| Helsinki | Finland |
— | ||||||||
| Klagenfurt | Austria |
— | ||||||||
| Poprad-Tatry | Slovakia |
— | ||||||||
| Zakopane |  Poland |
— | ||||||||
| 2010 | 2 July 2003 | Vancouver | Canada |
40 | 56 | — | — | — | — | Vancouver
|
| Pyeongchang |  South Korea |
51 | 53 | |||||||
| Salzburg | Austria |
16 | — | |||||||
| Andorra la Vella |  Andorra |
— | — | |||||||
| Bern | Switzerland |
— | — | |||||||
| Harbin |  China |
— | — | |||||||
| Jaca | Spain |
— | — | |||||||
| Sarajevo |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
— | — | |||||||
| 2014 | 4 July 2007 | Sochi | Russia |
34 | 51 | — | — | — | — | Sochi
|
| Pyeongchang | South Korea |
36 | 47 | |||||||
| Salzburg | Austria |
25 | — | |||||||
| Almaty |  Kazakhstan |
— | — | |||||||
| Borjomi |  Georgia |
— | — | |||||||
| Jaca | Spain |
— | — | |||||||
| Sofia | Bulgaria |
— | — | |||||||
| 2018 | 6 July 2011 | Pyeongchang | South Korea |
63 | — | — | — | — | — | Pyeongchang
|
| Munich | Germany |
25 | ||||||||
| Annecy | France |
7 | ||||||||
| 2022 | 31 July 2015 | Beijing | China |
44 | — | — | — | — | — | Beijing
|
| Almaty | Kazakhstan |
40 | ||||||||
| Oslo | Norway |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Kraków | Poland |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Lviv |  Ukraine |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Stockholm | Sweden |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| 2026 | 24 June 2019 | Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo | Italy |
47 | — | — | — | — | — | Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo
|
| Stockholm-Åre | Sweden |
34 | ||||||||
| Erzurum |  Turkey |
Did not make the shortlist | ||||||||
| Calgary | Canada |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Graz | Austria |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Sapporo | Japan |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Sion | Switzerland |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| 2030 | 24 July 2024 | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | France |
84 Yes, 4 No, 7 Abstention (95.5% of valid votes) | French Alps
| |||||
| Stockholm - Åre | Sweden |
Did not advance to targeted dialogue phase | ||||||||
| Switzerland | Switzerland |
Did not advance to 2030/2034 dialogue phase, but in dialogue for 2038 Winter Olympics | ||||||||
| Barcelona/Zaragoza - Pyrenees | Spain |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Vancouver | Canada |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Chamonix, Valais and Aosta | France Switzerland Italy |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| Sapporo | Japan |
Withdrew | ||||||||
| 2034 | 24 July 2024 | Salt Lake City | United States |
83 Yes, 6 No, 6 Abstention (93.3% of valid votes) | Salt Lake City
| |||||
By city
The following is a list of bids submitted by city. It lists the national Olympic committee, the city, and the games for which failed and successful bid were submitted. A parenthesis indicates that the city was awarded the games without a bidding process. A dagger (†) indicates that the city was awarded the games, but that they were ultimately not held in the city, either because the games were canceled or moved. An asterisk (*) indicates that the bid was not shortlisted. A double asterisk (**) indicates that the bid was withdrawn.
| Country | City | Failed/Withdrawn bids | Successful bids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andorra |
Andorra la Vella | 2010* | — |
| Austria |
Graz | 2002*, 2026** | — |
| Innsbruck | 1960 | 1964, (1976) | |
| Klagenfurt | 2006* | — | |
| Salzburg | 2010, 2014 | — | |
| Bulgaria |
Sofia | 1992, 1994, 2014* | — |
| Canada |
Banff | 1972 | — |
| Calgary | 1964, 1968, 2026** | 1988 | |
| Montreal | 1932, 1936, 1944, 1956 | — | |
| Quebec City | 2002 | — | |
| Vancouver | 1976, 1980, 2030 | 2010 | |
| China |
Beijing | — | 2022 |
| Harbin | 2010* | — | |
| Finland |
Helsinki | 2006* | — |
| Lahti | 1964, 1968, 1972 | — | |
| Tampere | 1976 | — | |
| France |
Albertville | — | 1992 |
| Annecy | 2018 | — | |
| Chamonix | 2030** | (1924) | |
| Grenoble | — | 1968 | |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 2030 | — | |
| Georgia |
Borjomi | 2014* | — |
| Germany |
Berchtesgaden | 1992 | — |
| Garmisch-Partenkirchen | 1960 | 1936 | |
| Munich | 2018 | — | |
| Italy |
Aosta | 1998, 2030** | — |
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | 1944, 1952, 1988, 1992 | 1956, 2026 | |
| Milan | — | 2026 | |
| Turin | — | 2006 | |
| Japan |
Nagano | — | 1998 |
| Sapporo | 1968, 1984, 2026**, 2030** | 1972 | |
| Kazakhstan |
Almaty | 2014*, 2022 | — |
| Norway |
Lillehammer | 1992 | 1994 |
| Oslo | 1932, 1944, 1968, 2022** | 1952 | |
| Poland |
Zakopane | 2006* | — |
| Kraków | 2022** | — | |
| Russia |
Sochi | 2002* | 2014 |
| Slovakia |
Poprad-Tatry | 2006* | — |
| South Korea |
Pyeongchang | 2010, 2014 | 2018 |
| Spain |
Jaca | 1998, 2002*, 2010*, 2014* | — |
| Barcelona/Zaragoza - Pyrenees | 2030** | — | |
| Sweden |
Falun | 1988, 1992 | — |
| Åre | 2026, 2030 | — | |
| Gothenburg | 1984 | — | |
| Östersund | 1994, 1998, 2002 | — | |
| Stockholm | 2022**, 2026, 2030 | — | |
| Switzerland |
Bern | 2010* | — |
| Davos | 1928 | — | |
| Engelberg | 1928 | — | |
| Sion | 1976, 2002, 2006, 2026** | — | |
| St. Moritz | 1936, 1960 | 1928, 1948 | |
| Valais | 2030** | — | |
| Turkey |
Erzurum | 2026* | — |
| Ukraine |
Lviv | 2022** | — |
| United States |
Anchorage | 1992, 1994 | — |
| Bear Mountain | 1932 | — | |
| Colorado Springs | 1956 | — | |
| Denver | 1932 | 1976† | |
| Duluth | 1932 | — | |
| Lake Placid | 1948, 1952, 1956, 1968 | 1932, 1980 | |
| Lake Tahoe | 1932 | — | |
| Minneapolis | 1932 | — | |
| Salt Lake City | 1972, 1998 | 2002, 2034 | |
| Squaw Valley | — | 1960 | |
| Yosemite Valley | 1932 | — | |
| Yugoslavia/ Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Sarajevo | 2010* | 1984 |
By country
The following is a list of bids submitted by national Olympic committee, listing the country and years it bid. Only countries that have submitted bids from multiple cities are included. Successful bids are in boldface. Parenthesis/Brackets indicates that the city was awarded the games without a bidding process. A dagger (†) indicates that the city was awarded the games, but that they were ultimately not held in the city, either because the games were canceled or moved.
| Country | Years |
|---|---|
| Austria |
1960, 1964, (1976), 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2026 |
| Canada |
1932, 1936, 1944, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1988, 2002, 2010, 2026, 2030 |
| China |
2010, 2022 |
| Finland |
1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 2006 |
| France |
1924, 1968, 1992, 2018, 2030 |
| Germany |
1936, 1960, 1992, 2018 |
| Italy |
1952, 1956, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2006, 2026 |
| Japan |
1968, 1972, 1984, 1998, 2026 |
| Norway |
1932, 1944, 1952, 1968, 1992, 1994, 2022 |
| Poland |
2006, 2022 |
| Spain |
1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2030, |
| Sweden |
1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2022, 2026, 2030 |
| Switzerland |
1928, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1976, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2026, 2030 |
| United States |
1932, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1972, 1976†, 1980, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2034 |
See also
References
- 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.
- ^ "Past Olympic host city election results". GamesBids. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
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| Summer | |
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