Seven applicant cities presented bids to host the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics (formally known as XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games) to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC executive board shortlisted three cities—Sochi, Russia; Salzburg, Austria; and Pyeongchang, South Korea—with Sochi winning the IOC's July 2007 final vote.

The three selected candidates, which were chosen on 22 June 2006, delivered to the IOC their Candidature Files (known as bid books) on 10 January 2007. From February to April 2007, an ad hoc committee performed visits to the candidate cities and prepared an evaluation report which was released one month before the election.

The election by exhaustive ballot took place on 4 July 2007 in Guatemala City during the 119th IOC Session; Sochi beat out Pyeongchang by four votes in the second round of voting to win the rights to host after Salzburg had been eliminated in the first round. Pyeongchang could later awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics in 2011, just one year before the 2012 Summer Olympics, and 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in 2020.

Candidature procedure and timeline

Phase 1: Candidature acceptance procedure

Bidding cities had to be approved by their national Olympic committees, which have the right to choose between several cities in their respective countries. The cities had to submit their applications to the IOC by 28 July 2005. The cities were asked to complete a questionnaire, which they had to submit to the IOC by 1 February 2006. An IOC Working Group then studied their answers to help the executive board members select the cities, which became candidate cities and went through to the second phase of the process. The executive board of IOC accepted three bids on 22 June 2006.

Phase 2: Candidature procedure

The candidate cities were invited to submit their candidature file, which is a detailed description of their Olympic plans, and to prepare for a visit by the IOC Evaluation Commission. This commission undertook a technical analysis of each candidature and produced a report, which was to be published one month before the host-city election and sent to the IOC members for study. The candidature files were submitted on 10 January 2007. The IOC Evaluation Committee visited the candidate cities in February and March 2007, and published its report on 4 June.

During the 119th IOC Session on 4 July 2007 in Guatemala City, Salzburg received 25 votes and was relegated, Pyeongchang received 36 votes, and Sochi received 34 votes in the first round of the IOC voting procedure. In the second and final round, Pyeongchang received 47 votes but Sochi received 51 votes and was therefore chosen as the host of the 2014 Olympics.

Evaluation of the applicant cities Each cell of the table provides a minimum and a maximum figure obtained by the applicant city on the specific criteria. These figures are to be compared to a benchmark which has been set at 6.

+ Table of scores given by the IOC Working Group to assess the quality and feasibility of the 2014 Applicant cities Criteria Weight Sochi Salzburg Jaca Almaty Pyeongchang Sofia Borjomi Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Max Governmental support, legal issues, public opinion 2 6.6 7.5 6.6 7.2 7.3 8.1 4.7 5.9 7.9 8.5 5.1 6.4 4.5 5.6 General infrastructure 5 5.8 6.9 7.8 8.6 4.8 6.0 6.3 7.9 6.4 7.6 4.2 5.3 2.7 4.2 Sport venues 4 5.5 7.1 7.2 8.4 5.0 6.6 4.7 6.9 6.8 8.1 3.6 5.4 3.4 4.9 Olympic Village(s) 3 7.4 8.6 7.9 8.9 4.2 6.5 6.5 8.0 5.2 7.2 4.8 6.5 5.5 7.2 Environmental conditions and impact 2 4.9 6.6 7.8 8.7 5.2 6.6 4.9 6.6 6.4 8.0 2.5 4.5 2.0 4.5 Accommodation 5 7.3 8.3 9.6 9.6 4.3 4.8 4.9 5.9 9.6 9.6 3.9 4.1 3.0 4.1 Transport concept 3 5.9 7.7 7.1 8.6 2.6 4.3 7.6 8.8 6.6 8.0 2.6 4.3 2.2 4.3 Safety and security 3 6.0 6.7 7.6 8.2 6.8 7.3 6.0 6.5 7.4 8.1 4.3 5.3 3.4 4.7 Experience from past sport events 3 5.2 7.2 8.6 9.6 6.8 8.4 3.8 5.4 8.0 9.0 5.4 7.0 2.0 4.0 Finance 3 6.0 6.8 7.0 8.0 6.5 8.0 5.6 6.8 6.2 7.6 4.6 5.8 2.8 3.5 Overall project and legacy 3 5.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 3.0 5.0 4.0 7.0 7.0 8.0 3.0 5.0 2.0 4.0 Report by the IOC candidature acceptance working group to the IOC Executive Board

Candidate cities overview

All three cities suggested hosting the XXII Olympic Winter Games between 7 and 23 February, and the Paralympics from 7–16 March.

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang Overview Details Round 1 36 Round 2 47 Country

Pyeongchang was unanimously selected over Muju by the Korean Olympic Committee in December 2004, and was the first city to submit its bid to the International Olympic Committee. The bid launched a full-scale campaign after losing the 2010 race by a mere three votes to Vancouver. The 2014 project concentrated all venues within one hour of Pyeongchang, and called for huge sums of investment into new infrastructure and sporting venues, including the new Alpensia Resort. The sporting event was touted as promoting a message of peace and harmony in the divided country.

Since 2003, the region had been selected to host the 2009 Snowboard World Championships, the 2009 Biathlon World Championships and the 2009 World Women's Curling Championship, and aimed to become the winter sports hub of Asia. Although an IOC evaluation team complimented the area on levels of public support, government support and infrastructure in February 2007,http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/17/sports/AS-SPT-OLY-SKorea-Winter-Bid.php the bid was also criticized because Pyeongchang was not a popular tourist destination, the venue relied heavily on artificial snow due to a dry winter climate, most slopes were relatively short and local amenities were poorly developed. Pyeongchang was eventually chosen to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics.

Salzburg Salzburg Overview Details Votes 25 Country

The Austrian city was eliminated in the first round in voting during the 2010 competition. The 2014 bid was more compact than the 2010 project due to the elimination of the Kitzbühel, St. Johann and Ramsau venues. The venue for bobsled, skeleton and luge, Schönau am Königssee, was located in Germany.

Sochi Sochi Overview Details Round 1 34 Round 2 51 Country

The Russian Black Sea resort bid for the Winter Olympics for the third time after failing to make the shortlist in 1998 and 2002. The primary venue for outdoor sports was the ski resort in Krasnaya Polyana, which was designed by the same company that worked on ski slopes for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and scheduled to open in 2007. Sochi would host the indoor winter sports. The high number of hotel rooms and strong public and political support from the city were expected to strengthen the bid's chances.

Note: the cities are listed in the presentation order determined by draw during the IOC Executive Board meeting of 26 October 2005.

Applicant cities overview The following applicant cities were approved by their National Olympic Committees and submitted their applications to the IOC but were not selected as candidates by the executive board. They all sent their respective questionnaire answers by 1 February 2006. These documents were made public in the following days.

+ 2014 non-selected applicant cities Logo Name Country (IOC Country Code) Jaca Spain (ESP) Jaca has failed four times in bidding for the Winter Olympics—for the 1998, 2002, 2010, and 2014 Olympics. It has previously hosted the 1981 and 1995 Winter Universiades, and hosted the European Youth Olympic Festival in February 2007. Skiing events were proposed to take place at ski resorts of the Pyrenees: Candanchú, Formigal, Astún and Panticosa. Most of the ice events, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies (at La Romareda Stadium), were to take place south of Jaca in Zaragoza. Preliminary ice hockey competitions were to take place in Jaca and Huesca. Jaca bid for 2002 but missed the short list, which was limited to Östersund (Sweden), Quebec City (Canada), Sion (Switzerland) and Salt Lake City (US), the eventual host.

Jaca did not make the short list because the opening and closing ceremonies were not scheduled to take place in Jaca, which is in contradiction with article 34.1 of the Olympic Charter. Almaty Kazakhstan (KAZ) Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, submitted its official bid for the 2014 Olympics to the International Olympic Committee. The city had already planned to host the 2011 Winter Asian Games. The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan cited the city would have used existing indoor sports facilities and the Chimbulak Mountain ski slopes. The bid was quite compact; all of the ice events were to be held in downtown Almaty and the alpine events in nearby Kumbel. The farthest events would have been in the Soldatskoe Valley venue, away from the center of Almaty and the Olympic Village. The historic Medew ice rink would have been the speed skating venue and would have been covered for the Games. Based on the scores released by the executive committee report, Almaty was placed fourth overall and would have been eligible for the shortlist because it had cleared the benchmark for some categories. However, IOC president Jacques Rogge said in the process of shortlisting to determine an Olympic Host City, what matters is "not quantity, but the quality" of the overall bids. Although Almaty presented a good bid, it was implied it was not at the same standard as the three that were selected to enter the shortlist. After the 2014 setback, Kazakhstan attempts to bid the 2018 Olympics and 2022 Olympics, but was beaten by Pyeongchang, South Korea and Beijing, China in 2011 and 2015. Sofia Bulgaria (BUL) Sofia submitted its application in the city's third attempt to land the Winter Games after losing the 1992 and 1994 nominations to Albertville and Lillehammer, respectively. The proposed Olympics was based on three main centers; Sofia, Borovets and Bansko. Sofia would have hosted the ice events, bobsleigh and luge events in nearby Vitosha natural park. The ambitious, multi-million-euro Super Borovets away expansion project would have hosted cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing and snowboarding events. Near Sofia is the fast-developing resort Bansko . Bansko, the site of the 2007 European biathlon championship, would have hosted the biathlon and alpine skiing events. The city's bid also gained significant political support within the country and sent in its application early on 17 April 2004. Sofia missed the 2014 shortlist on 22 June 2006. According to experts, the main reason for the 2014 elimination was the lack of detailed information provided in the reply to the IOC's questionnaire. Borjomi Georgia (GEO) Despite the lack of sports infrastructure, Georgia reportedly had the money and the will to host the Winter Olympics. The Games were proposed to be held in two locations: Borjomi and Tbilisi, which are about apart.

Borjomi was the proposed venue for the outdoor sports disciplines (Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Luge, Nordic Combined, Skeleton, Ski Jumping and Snowboard), while Tbilisi was expected to host the indoor sports disciplines (Curling, Figure Skating, Ice-Hockey, Short Track Speed Skating and Speed Skating). The opening and closing ceremonies were expected to take place in the natural amphitheatre in the center of Bakuriani, a suburb of Borjomi. Bakuriani would also have been the venue for the cross-country and freestyle skiing.

Note: the cities are listed in the presentation order determined by draw during the IOC Executive Board meeting of 26 October 2005.

Applicant cities comparison