Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Bids for the 2014 Winter Olympics

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Committee
  
IOC

Second bid
  
1 February 2006

Decision
  
4 July 2007

First Bid
  
28 July 2005

Shortlist
  
22 June 2006

Bids for the 2014 Winter Olympics

Election venue
  
Guatemala City119th IOC Session

Seven applicant cities presented bids to host the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics (formally known as XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games) to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC Executive Board shortlisted three cities—Sochi, Russia; Salzburg, Austria; and Pyeongchang, South Korea—with Sochi winning the IOC's July 2007 final vote.

Contents

The three selected candidates, chosen on 22 June 2006, delivered to the IOC their Candidature Files (known as bid books) on 10 January 2007. From February to April 2007, an ad hoc committee performed visits to the candidate cities and prepared an evaluation report which was released one month before the election.

The election by exhaustive ballot took place on 4 July 2007 in Guatemala City during the 119th IOC Session; Sochi beat out Pyeongchang by four votes in the second round of voting to win the rights to host after Salzburg had been eliminated in the first round.

Final round

Four years earlier, Pyeongchang led the first ballot, but was defeated in the second one, then losing to Vancouver, British Columbia. Both votes although four years apart bear a remarkable similarity.

There were two rounds of voting at the session that decided which city would host the games. In the first round, Pyeongchang received 36 votes while Sochi received 34 votes. Salzburg was eliminated carrying only 25 votes. In the second round of voting Pyeongchang garnered 47 votes but Sochi carried most of the votes originally cast for Salzburg and garnered 51 votes, winning the bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Phase 1: Candidature acceptance procedure

Bidding cities had to be approved by their National Olympic committees, which have the right to choose between several cities in their respective countries. The cities had to submit their applications to the IOC by 28 July 2005. The cities were asked to complete a questionnaire, which they had to submit to the IOC by 1 February 2006. An IOC Working Group then studied their answers in order to help the Executive Board members select the cities which became Candidate Cities and went through to the second phase of the process. The Executive Board of IOC accepted three bids on 22 June 2006.

Phase 2: Candidature procedure

The Candidate Cities were invited to submit their candidature file, which is a detailed description of their Olympic plans, and to prepare for a visit by the IOC Evaluation Commission. This Commission undertook a technical analysis of each candidature and then produced a report, which was to be published one month before the host city election and sent to the IOC members for study. The candidature files were submitted on 10 January 2007. The IOC Evaluation Committee visited the candidate cities in February–March 2007 and published its report on 4 June.

During the 119th IOC Session on 4 July 2007 in Guatemala City, Salzburg received 25 votes (and was relegated), Pyeongchang received 36 votes, and Sochi received 34 votes in the first round of the IOC voting procedure. In the second (and final) round, Pyeongchang received 47 votes, but Sochi received 51 votes and was therefore chosen as the host of the 2014 Olympics.

Salzburg campaign leader threatened by Russian mafia

The Russian mafia helped Russia win the games by threatening the Salzburg campaign leader Fedor Radmann who later resigned in 2007 according to German security officials. Informants observed a meeting between mafia leaders and Russian government foreign policy advisor Sergei Prikhodko in 2006 in a Munich restaurant to discuss the Olympic selection process. Radmann himself denies he ever met any Russian mobsters but his colleagues state that the feared for his life and the mayor of Salzburg Heinz Schaden confirms the link.

Candidate cities

Note: the cities are listed in the presentation order determined by draw during the IOC Executive Board meeting of 26 October 2005.

Applicant cities

The following applicant cities have been approved by their National Olympic Committees and submitted their applications to the IOC, but were not selected as candidates by the Executive board. They all sent their respective questionnaire answers by 1 February 2006. These documents have been made public in the following days.

Note: the cities are listed in the presentation order determined by draw during the IOC Executive Board meeting of 26 October 2005.

Evaluation of the applicant cities

Each cell of the table provides a minimum and a maximum figure obtained by the applicant city on the specific criteria. These figures are to be compared to a benchmark which has been set at 6.

  • Report by the IOC candidature acceptance working group to the IOC Executive Board
  • Applicant cities comparison

    *Airports not included

    Note: the cities are listed in the presentation order defined by the IOC during its Executive Board of 26 October 2005.

    Applicant cities venues list

    These venues are from the applicant cities' mini bid books. Note that the selected candidate cities, and in particular Sochi, have changed their venues plan afterwards in the final proposal to the IOC.

    Potential bids

    The following cities expressed interest in bidding but withdrew their 2014 Winter Olympics bids or decided not to bid.

  • Andorra la Vella, Andorra – No backing by the Andorran Olympic Committee for 2014 bid, but now considering bidding for 2022 Winter Olympics.
  • Annecy, France – No backing by the French Olympic Committee after Paris lost its 2012 bid.
  • Erzurum, Turkey – The National Olympic Committee of Turkey cited a lack of infrastructure. Erzurum had organized the 2011 Winter Universiade.
  • Harbin, People's Republic of China – Investment has been poured into the 2009 Winter Universiade
  • Munich, Germany – National Olympic Committee for Germany cited lack of detail and planning
  • Östersund, Sweden – Lack of Swedish political support
  • Quebec City, Canada – Discussed making a bid for these games before Vancouver was chosen to hold the 2010 Olympic Winter Games
  • Reno and Lake Tahoe, United States of America – No backing by the United States Olympic Committee
  • Shimla, India – Lack of Indian Government support
  • Tromsø, Norway – The Norwegian government did not guarantee money to the bid
  • Zürich, Switzerland – Withdrew their bid on 14 September 2004
  • References

    Bids for the 2014 Winter Olympics Wikipedia


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