The World Competes

Last October, we looked on as the winning bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics was announced. There were several countries trying to bid, including Chicago, who President Barack Obama was gunning for. The winning bid for the 2018 Olympics will probably be a little less newsworthy, at least in the United States. For one thing, it is the Winter Olympics, which don’t tend to be as popular as the Summer Olympics, and for another thing, the United States doesn’t have a city in the running (Denver was interested in it, but the US was behind a Chicago bid for most of the time it could have been preparing).

There are three cities that are in the running to win the Olympics in 2018. The winner will be announced July 6, 2011.

• Annecy, France – Paris really wants to host an Olympics. The city had been the host of the 1900 games and the 1924 Olympics, but nothing since. Paris tried to trademark several phrases, such as “Paris 2020″, “Paris 2024″, and “Paris 2028″, but it was overturned by a court in France (it would be pretty appropriate to have a Paris 2024 games, a 100-year anniversary). Anyway, France was a little reluctant to throw Annecy into the ring, as they really want to focus on getting the games for Paris. An Olympic games in Annecy wouldn’t necessarily prevent Paris from having the Olympics in 2024 either… the United States hosted the games in Atlanta in 1996, then again hosted the games in Salt Lake City six years later, in 2002. Still, the local population is not entirely enthusiastic with hosting the games, so it might very well be held elsewhere.
• Munich (München), Germany – Germany was also hoping for a summer games in 2024 or 2028 (in Berlin or Hamburg), but they decided to throw their weight into a Munich bid. They can use several existing facilities, including some that were used in the 1972 Munich games, and others that were even used during the Garmish-Partenkirchen Olympics of 1936, which might help in these difficult economic times. If they win, Munich will be the first city to host both a winter and summer Olympics. The biggest thing that Munich has against it is that the 2014 games are going to be held in Europe.
• Pyeongchang, South Korea – Pyeongchang is trying for the third time to bid for an Olympics in 2018. The citizens really want it, and it’s not in Europe, which could help them. They could be the front runners.