Judging which cities would get to host the
Olympic Games is almost a sport in itself.
The city of Detroit would get the gold medal for being the least successful in its attempts to get the Olympic Games, with seven bids that have all ended in failure. Sydney, Melbourne and Munich are the only cities which hosted the summer games in the post-war era without ever previously failing a bid.
Interesting bids include Karachi's attempt at the 1960 Winter Olympics, and Belgrade's attempt at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the year Serb forces were shelling former Olympic host Sarajevo.
Below are the names of candiate cities for all the summer and winter games.
2012 Summer Olympics
Winner: London
Other Candidates: Paris,Madrid, New York, Moscow, Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, Rio de Janeiro
2010 Winter Olympics
Winner: Vancouver
Other Candidates: Pyongchang (South Korea), Harbin (China), Berne, Andorra, Salzburg
2008 Summer Olympics
Winner: Beijing
Other Candidates: Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, Osaka, Seville, Bangkok, Havana, Kuala Lumpur
2006 Winter Olympics
Winner: Turin
Other Candidates: Sion (Switzerland), Zakopane (Poland), Poprad Tatry (Slovakia), Klagenfurt (Germany)
2004 Summer Olympics
Winner: Athens
Other Candidates: Rome, Cape Town, Stockholm, Buenos Aires, Lille, Cape Town, St Petersberg, San Juan, Seville, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul
2002 Winter Olympics
Winner: Salt Lake City
Other Candidates: Ostersund (Sweden), Sion (Switzerland), Quebec City, Graz, Tarvisio (Italy)
2000 Summer Olympics
Winner: Sydney
Other Candidates: Beijing, Manchester, Berlin, Istanbul, Brasilia
1998 Winter Olympics
Winner: Nagano
Other Candidates: Salt Lake City, Ostersund (Sweden), Jaca (Spain), Aosta (Italy), Sochi (Russia)
1996 Summer Olympics
Winner: Atlanta
Other Candidates: Athens, Toronto, Melbourne, Manchester, Belgrade
1994 Winter Olympics
Winner: Lillehammer (Norway)
Other Candidates: Ostersund (Sweden), Anchorage, Sofia
1992 Summer Olympics
Winner: Barcelona
Other Candidates: Paris, Belgrade, Brisbane, Birmingham, Amsterdam, New Delhi,
1992 Winter Olympics
Winner: Albertville (France)
Other Candidates: Sofia, Falun (Sweden), Lillehammer, Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy), Anchorage, Berchtesgarten (Germany)
1988 Summer Olympics
Winner: Seoul
Other Candidates: Nagoya, Athens, Melbourne
1988 Winter Olympics
Winner: Calgary
Other Candidates: Falun (Sweden), Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy)
1984 Summer Olympics
Winner: Los Angeles
1984 Winter Olympics
Winner: Sarajevo
Other Candidates: Sapporo , Gothenberg (Sweden)
1980 Summer Olympics
Winner: Moscow
Other Candidate: Los Angeles
1980 Winter Olympics
Winner: Lake Placid (United States)
1976 Summer Olympics
Winner: Montreal
Other Candidates: Moscow, Los Angeles
1976 Winter Olympics
Winner: Denver (subsequently hosted in Innsbruck)
Other Candidates: Sion (Switzerland), Tampere (Finland), Vancouver, Grenada (Spain)
1972 Summer Olympics
Winner: Munich
Other Candidates: Detroit, Madrid, Moscow
1972 Winter Olympics
Winner: Sapporo
Other Candidates: Banff (Canada), Lahti (Finland), Salt Lake City
1968 Summer Olympics
Winner: Mexico City
Other Candidates: Detroit, Lyons, Buenos Aires
1968 Winter Olympics
Winner: Grenoble
Other Candidates: Calgary, Lahti (Finland), Sapporo, Lake Placid (United States), Oslo
1964 Summer Olympics
Winner: Tokyo
Other Candidates: Detroit, Vienna, Brussels
1964 Winter Olympics
Winner: Innsbruck
Other Candidates: Calgary, Lahti (Finland)
1960 Summer Olympics
Winner: Rome
Other Candidates: Lausanne, Brussels, Budapest, Detroit, Mexico City, Tokyo
1960 Winter Olympics
Winner: Squaw Valley (United States)
Other Candidates: Innsbruck, St Moritz, Garmish-Partenkirchen, Karachi
1956 Summer Olympics
Winner: Melbourne
Other Candidates: Detroit, Philadelphia, Montreal, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Minneapolis
1956 Summer Olympics (equestrian events)
Winner: Stockholm
Other Candidates: Berlin, Rio de Janerio, Paris, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires
1956 Winter Olympics
Winner: Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy)
Other Candidates: Oslo, Lake Placid (United States), Colorado Springs (United States)
1952 Summer Olympics
Winner: Helsinki
Other Candidates: Amsterdam, Athens, Philadelphia, Stockholm, Lausanne, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit
1952 Winter Olympics
Winner: Oslo
Other Candidates: Lake Placid, Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy)
1948 Summer Olympics
Winner: London
Other Candidates: Lausanne, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Minneapolis
1948 Winter Olympics
Winner: St Moritz
Other Candidate: Lake Placid
1944 Summer Olympics
The games did not take place, but candidate cities included Athens, Budapest, Detroit, Lausanne and London.
1944 Summer Olympics
The games did not take place, but candidate cities included Cortina d'Ampezzo, Montreal, Oslo and St Moritz
1940 Summer Olympics
The games did not take place, but candidate cities included
Alexandria, Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Helsinki, Toronto and Montreal. Tokyo was originally selected but withrew its bid; the games then were awarded to Helsinki.
1940 Winter Olympics
The games did not take place, but candidate cities included
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Oslo, Sapporo and St Moritz. Sapporo was originally selected but withrew its bid; the games then were awarded to St Moritz which also later withdrew. Garmisch-Partenkirchen was then offered the games, but they were cancelled as a result of World War Two.
1936 Summer Olympics
Winner: Berlin
Other Candidates: Helsinki, Athens, Dublin, Budapest, Athens, Buenos Aires, Cologne, Alexandria, Rome, Frankfurt, Nuremburg, Barcelona
1936 Winter Olympics
Winner: Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Other Candidates: St Moritz, Montreal
1932 Summer Olympics
Sole Candidate: Los Angeles
1932 Winter Olympics
Winner: Lake Placid
Other Candidates: Bear Mountain, Denver, Duluth, Minneapolis, Montreal, Yosemite Valley, Lake Tahoe
1928 Summer Olympics
Sole Candidate: Amsterdam
1928 Winter Olympics
Winner: St Moritz
Other Candidates: Davos, Engelberg
1924 Summer Olympics
Winner: Paris
Other Candidates: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Prague, Rome
1924 Winter Olympics
Winner: Chamonix (France)
1920 Summer Olympics
Winner: Antwerp
Other Candidates: Budapest, Lyons, Havana, Atlanta
1916 Summer Olympics
The games did not take place, but candidate cities included
Alexandria, Berlin, Budapest, Cleveland.
1912 Summer Olympics
Sole Candidate: Stockholm
1908 Summer Olympics
Winner: London
Other Candidates: Berlin, Milan, Rome (Rome was initially selected)
1904 Summer Olympics
Winner: St Louis
Other Candidate: Chicago (Chicago was initially selected)
1900 Summer Olympics
Sole Candidate: Paris
1896 Summer Olympics
Sole Candidate: Athens