The Winter Olympics are a multi-sport event in winter sports organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) every four years. Selection of the host city is done at an IOC Session four to seven years prior to the tournament, in which the IOC members vote between candidate cities which have submitted bids. As of the selection of the 2018 Olympics, 23 games have been held in 20 cities in 11 countries. Bids have been made by 56 cities in 23 countries.

The bid process consists of two rounds. First, cities and national Olympic committees (NOCs) may show their interest and submit a preliminary bid, becoming applicant cities. Through analysis of the questionnaires, the IOC gave a weighted-average score to each city based on the scores obtained in each of the questionnaire's eleven themes: political and social support, general infrastructure, sports venues, Olympic Village, environment, accommodation, transport, security, past experience, finance, and legacy. IOC's Executive Committee then selects a short-list of candidate cities. The candidate cities are investigated by the IOC Evaluation Committee, who make an evaluation report. These submit a more extensive bid book and are subject to additional evaluation, which is presented to the IOC members. Voting occurs as an exhaustive ballot, which may occur through multiple rounds until a single city holds a majority of the votes. IOC members from a candidate NOC may not vote in any round while their country remains in the election.

The first games were not subject to bids and awarded to Chamonix as part of Paris' bid for the 1924 Summer Olympics. Originally the host country of the Summer Olympics had the right to host the Winter Olympics as well, if they could provide a suitable host. The 1940 Olympics were originally awarded to Sapporo, but it and the 1944 Winter Olympics were ultimately canceled due to the Second World War. The 1976 Olympics were awarded to Denver, but in a 1972 referendum, voters rejected the games, and for the only time a city awarded the Games rejected them. IOC then offered them to Whistler, but a change of government meant they were no longer interested. Salt Lake City offered to host the games, but IOC finally chose Innsbruck instead. From 1994, Winter Olympics were held between Summer Olympic years. Starting with the 2004 Olympics, only the highest-rated cities are short-listed for the final IOC vote.

Innsbruck, Lake Placid, and St. Moritz are the only cities to have hosted two games. Albertville, Grenoble, Nagano and Turin have never lost a bid. With six, Lake Placid has the most bids, followed by Cortina d'Ampezzo with five. Montreal and Jaca have both made four bids without any being successful. Helsinki, Minneapolis, Montreal and Munich have bid for both Summer and Winter Olympics; all but Minneapolis have succeeded at winning Summer bids, but none have held Winter Olympics. Canada and the United States have bid thirteen and twelve times respectively, with the US being awarded four and Canada two games. Other countries to host multiple games are France (3), Austria (2), Italy (2), Japan (2), Norway (2), and Switzerland (2). Sweden and Finland have bid eight and five times respectively, all unsuccessfully.

By year The following is a list of bids for the Winter Olympics, sorted by year. It consists of the year the games were held or scheduled to be held, the date the decision was made, the city and country which issued the bid, the votes at the IOC Session for each voting round, and the ultimate host of the games. The bid listed first for each games is the one selected by the IOC, whether or not it ultimately hosted the games.

Year Session Bid(s) Vote Host City Country Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 1924 — — — — — — — — — Chamonix 1928 — St. Moritz — — — — — — St. Moritz Davos Engelberg 1932 4 October 1929 Lake Placid — — — — — — Lake Placid Bear Mountain Denver Duluth Lake Tahoe Minneapolis Montreal Oslo Yosemite Valley 1936 — Garmisch-Partenkirchen — — — — — — Garmisch-Partenkirchen Montreal St. Moritz 1940 31 August 1936 Sapporo — — — — — — Cancelled 1944 — Cortina d'Ampezzo 16 — — — — — Cortina d'Ampezzo (cancelled) Montreal 12 Oslo 2 1948 — St. Moritz — — — — — — St. Mortiz Lake Placid 1952 21 June 1947 Oslo 16 — — — — — Oslo Cortina d'Ampezzo 9 Lake Placid 2 1956 28 April 1949 Cortina d'Ampezzo 31 — — — — — Cortina d'Ampezzo Montreal 7 Colorado Springs 2 Lake Placid 1 1960 16 June 1955 Squaw Valley 30 32 — — — — Squaw Valley Innsbruck 24 30 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 3 — St. Moritz 3 — 1964 26 May 1959 Innsbruck 49 — — — — — Innsbruck Calgary 9 Lahti 0 1968 28 January 1964 Grenoble 15 18 27 — — — Grenoble Calgary 12 19 24 Lahti 11 14 — Sapporo 6 — — Oslo 4 — — Lake Placid 3 — — 1972 25 April 1966 Sapporo 32 — — — — — Sapporo Banff 16 Lahti 7 Salt Lake City 7 1976 12 May 1970 Denver 29 29 39 — — — Innsbruck Sion 18 31 30 Tampere 12 8 — Vancouver 9 — — 1980 13 October 1974 Lake Placid — — — — — — Lake Placid 1984 18 May 1978 Sarajevo 31 39 — — — — Sarajevo Sapporo 33 36 Gothenburg 10 — 1988 30 September 1981 Calgary 35 48 — — — — Calgary Falun 25 31 Cortina d'Ampezzo 18 — 1992 16 October 1986 Albertville 19 26 29 42 — 51 Albertville Sofia 25 25 28 24 — 25 Falun 10 11 11 11 41 9 Lillehammer 10 11 9 11 40 — Cortina d'Ampezzo 7 6 7 — — — Anchorage 7 5 — — — — Berchtesgaden 6 — — — — — 1994 15 September 1988 Lillehammer 25 30 45 — — — Lillehammer Östersund 19 33 39 Anchorage 23 22 — Sofia 17 — — 1998 15 June 1991 Nagano 21 — 30 36 46 — Nagano Salt Lake City 15 59 27 29 42 Östersund 18 — 25 23 — Jaca 19 — 5 — — Aosta 15 29 — — — 2002 16 June 1995 Salt Lake City 54 — — — — — Salt Lake City Östersund 14 Sion 14 Quebec City 7 Graz — Jaca — Poprad-Tatry — Sochi — Tarvisio — 2006 19 June 1999 Turin 53 — — — — — Turin Sion 36 Helsinki — Klagenfurt — Poprad-Tatry — Zakopane — 2010 2 July 2003 Vancouver 40 56 — — — — Vancouver Pyeongchang 51 53 Salzburg 16 — Andorra la Vella — — Bern — — Harbin — — Jaca — — Sarajevo — — 2014 4 July 2007 Sochi 34 51 — — — — Sochi Pyeongchang 36 47 Salzburg 25 — Almaty — — Borjomi — — Jaca — — Sofia — — 2018 6 July 2011 Pyeongchang 63 — — — — — Pyeongchang Munich 25 Annecy 7 2022 31 July 2015 Beijing 44 — — — — — Beijing Almaty 40 Oslo Withdrew Kraków Withdrew Lviv Withdrew Stockholm Withdrew 2026 24 June 2019 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo 47 — — — — — Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Stockholm-Åre 34 Erzurum Did not make the shortlist Calgary Withdrew Graz Withdrew Sapporo Withdrew Sion Withdrew 2030 24 July 2024 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 84 Yes, 4 No, 7 Abstention (95.5% of valid votes) French Alps Stockholm - Åre Did not advance to targeted dialogue phase Switzerland Did not advance to targeted dialogue phase Barcelona and Zaragoza - Pyrenees Withdrew Vancouver Withdrew Sapporo Withdrew 2034 24 July 2024 Salt Lake City - Utah 83 Yes, 6 No, 6 Abstention (93.3% of valid votes) Utah

By city The following is a list of bids submitted by city. It lists the national Olympic committee, the city, and the games for which failed and successful bid were submitted. A parenthesis indicates that the city was awarded the games without a bidding process. A dagger () indicates that the city was awarded the games, but that they were ultimately not held in the city, either because the games were canceled or moved. An asterisk (*) indicates that the bid was not shortlisted. A double asterisk (**) indicates that the bid was withdrawn.

Country City Failed/Withdrawn bids Successful bids Andorra la Vella 2010* — Graz 2002*, 2026** — Innsbruck 1960 1964, (1976) Klagenfurt 2006* — Salzburg 2010, 2014 — Sofia 1992, 1994, 2014* — Banff 1972 — Calgary 1964, 1968, 2026** 1988 Montreal 1932, 1936, 1944, 1956 — Quebec City 2002 — Vancouver 1976, 1980, 2030** 2010 Beijing — 2022 Harbin 2010* — Helsinki 2006* — Lahti 1964, 1968, 1972 — Tampere 1976 — Albertville — 1992 Annecy 2018 — Grenoble — 1968 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2030 — Borjomi 2014* — Berchtesgaden 1992 — Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1960 1936 Munich 2018 — Cortina d'Ampezzo 1944, 1952, 1988, 1992 1956, 2026 Milan — 2026 Turin — 2006 Nagano — 1998 Sapporo 1968, 1984, 2026**, 2030** 1972 Almaty 2014*, 2022 — Lillehammer 1992 1994 Oslo 1932, 1944, 1968, 2022** 1952 Zakopane 2006* — Kraków 2022** — Sochi 2002* 2014 Poprad-Tatry 2006* — Pyeongchang 2010, 2014 2018 Jaca 1998, 2002*, 2010*, 2014* — Barcelona and Zaragoza - Pyrenees 2030** — Falun 1988, 1992 — Åre 2026, 2030 — Gothenburg 1984 — Östersund 1994, 1998, 2002 — Stockholm 2022**, 2026, 2030 — Bern 2010* — Davos 1928 — Engelberg 1928 — Sion 1976, 2002, 2006, 2026** — St. Moritz 1936, 1960 1928, 1948 Erzurum 2026* — Lviv 2022** — Anchorage 1992, 1994 — Bear Mountain 1932 — Colorado Springs 1956 — Denver 1932 1976 Duluth 1932 — Lake Placid 1948, 1952, 1956, 1968 1932, 1980 Lake Tahoe 1932 — Minneapolis 1932 — Salt Lake City 1972, 1998 2002, 2034 Squaw Valley — 1960 Yosemite Valley 1932 — / Sarajevo 2010* 1984

By country The following is a list of bids submitted by national Olympic committee, listing the country and years it bid. Only countries that have submitted bids from multiple cities are included. Successful bids are in boldface. Parenthesis/Brackets indicates that the city was awarded the games without a bidding process. A dagger () indicates that the city was awarded the games, but that they were ultimately not held in the city, either because the games were canceled or moved.

Country Years 1960, 1964, (1976), 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2026 1932, 1936, 1944, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1988, 2002, 2010, 2026, 2030 2010, 2022 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 2006 1924, 1968, 1992, 2018, 2030 1936, 1960, 1992, 2018 1952, 1956, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2006, 2026 1968, 1972, 1984, 1998, 2026, 2030 1932, 1944, 1952, 1968, 1992, 1994, 2022 2006, 2022 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2030 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2022, 2026, 2030 1928, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1976, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2026, 2030, 2038 1932, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2034

See also Bids for Olympic Games List of bids for the Summer Olympics

References