The shattered Olympic dreams in Switzerland
Published: Friday, Sep 27th 2024, 13:20
Zurück zu Live Feed
The Winter Olympics have only been held twice in Switzerland, in 1928 and 1948 in St. Moritz GR. The list of shattered Olympic dreams, however, is long.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) 1936
Like Montreal (CAN), St. Moritz is defeated at the 1933 session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Vienna by the then still separate municipalities of Garmisch and Partenkirchen in Nazi-ruled Germany.
1940
The Games are canceled due to the Second World War. They were originally planned for Sapporo (J), then St. Moritz and finally Garmisch-Partenkirchen again.
Squaw Valley (Canada) 1960
At the 1955 IOC Assembly in Paris, St. Moritz, like Innsbruck, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Karachi (Pakistan), is defeated by the Canadian winter sports resort.
Grenoble (France) 1968
The voters of Valais rejected a candidacy in 1963.
Innsbruck (Austria) 1976
In 1969, Zurich, the Bernese Oberland, Valais and Graubünden were interested in hosting the 12th Winter Games. In Zurich and Bern, the dreams were dashed at the ballot box, but in Valais the voters said yes. The Swiss Olympic Committee (SOC) favors Valais over Graubünden. At the IOC, however, the Valais bid is defeated by Denver (USA) in 1970. In the end, the Games are held in Innsbruck after a negative referendum in Denver.
Calgary (Canada) 1988
In 1980, Graubünden ends a possible participation prematurely by saying no to the deficit guarantee.
Lillehammer (Norway) 1994
The voters of Davos and St. Moritz reject a joint Graubünden bid in 1986. Although a Vaud bid wins in the SOC against a Bernese bid, it fails at the ballot box in Lausanne in 1988.
Salt Lake City (USA) 2002
Another Valais bid was defeated in Budapest in 1995, when the IOC awarded the Winter Games to the USA.
Turin (Italien) 2006
Valais' next Olympic dream, to which the voters in the canton also said yes in 1997, came to an end in Seoul in 1999. The IOC chooses Turin (I) as the venue for the 20th Winter Olympics.
Vancouver (Canada) 2010
For 2010, Graubünden and Zurich as well as Montreux VD enter the race with Bern. The Swiss Olympic sports parliament backs Bern-Montreux, but the Bernese electorate gave the project the cold shoulder in 2002.
Sotschi (Russland) 2014
Graubünden and Zurich compete against each other again. Although Swiss Olympic gives preference to Zurich over Davos, the Zurich promoters throw in the towel in 2004 for political and financial reasons.
Beijing (China) 2022
Another Swiss candidacy is shipwrecked in 2013 with the veto of the Grisons electorate.
Winter Games 2026
New disgrace for the economic and political establishment in Graubünden: in February 2017, voters rejected a bid even more clearly than in 2013, giving the "Sion 2026" bid in western Switzerland with the cantons of Valais, Vaud, Bern and Fribourg a boost. However, this fails in 2018 due to the veto of the Valais electorate.
2030
The dream of hosting the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Switzerland is dashed again: the IOC drops Swiss Olympic's bid and later awards the Games to France. And in July 2024, the IOC decided to hold the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City (USA). However, the IOC gave Switzerland preferential rights for 2038 should it bid again.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic