When people think of cities in Russia, surely Moscow and Saint Petersburg are the ones that immediately come to mind. In fact, I doubt anyone knew what Sochi was, let alone where it’s located, prior to it winning the 2014 Winter Olympics bid. And with all of the chatter about Russia’s discriminatory anti-gay laws and reports of the systematic killing of stray dogs one has to wonder, how did Sochi end up hosting the most prestigious athletic spectacle in the world?
The reality is: Russia won its bid by way of a visionary campaign, a widespread marketing initiative and all the while touting Sochi’s resort-like locale on the coast of the Black Sea (ironic given that #SochiProblems is trending more on Twitter than #Sochi2014). But it’s not quite that simple. The entire process dates back to 2004 when over a span of three years, seven other cities worldwide threw their municipal hats into the ring to vie for the chance to play host to the games.
It all begins when a country’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) evaluates the all of the cities within its borders that submit an Olympic-themed questionnaire in which that city outlines how it plans to host the games and its feasibility. When a country chooses a city from its pool of applicants, it then puts the city forth to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), or the premiere governing body of the Olympics.
This is exactly how Sochi came to battle PyeongChang, South Korea; Salzburg, Austria; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Borjomi, Georgia; Jaca, Spain; and Sofia, Bulgaria for the IOC’s coveted choice.
From here, the cities must submit a second questionnaire followed by a four-day inspection of it by the IOC Evaluation Commission. The Commission’s results are then submitted to the IOC no later than one month before the IOC Electing Session in which they narrow down the candidates. Each city is then required to provide financial guarantees to IOC Executive board in order to prove that hosting the Games will be a fiscal success. Upon receiving those, the IOC Electing Session commences voting until one city receives the absolute majority. If an absolute majority is not reached, they continue voting until one is. The city with the least amount of votes per round is dropped from the voting.
In 2007 at the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City, Guatemala, the IOC voted on which of the the three finalists (Sochi, PyeongChang and Salzburg) would win the bid. According to GamesBids, an independent Olympics news source, Sochi won after just two ballots in “possibly the tightest Olympic bid election in history – and on the heels of an over-exuberant 2012 election where the bids took notes – the cities pulled out every stop and campaigned with high-profile dignitaries and lavish presentations.”
GamesBids notes further that Austria, despite being an early favorite to win, was dropped amidst “an Austrian athletes doping scandal” while PyeongChang lost narrowly after “Russian President Vladamir Putin delivered a final presentation speach to the delegates, speaking in English publicly for the first time.”
Lucky for PyeongChang, the South Korean city won the bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, the first time the country will play host to the winter games. Seoul hosted the Summer Olympics in 1988.
The Sochi games technically started Thursday despite the opening ceremonies taking place Friday. A handful of skiing and figure skating events are already underway but you can catch up with all details and Winter Olympics information by tuning in to our comprehensive coverage of the games here.
Time to weigh in with some predictions from the audience. How many gold medals is the U.S. going to win? Will we out-gain hometown Russia in the medal count? Will Boston play host to the olympics someday? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
