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Here are some interesting trivia (thanks to Hank Wisniewski) about bidding cities for the summer and winter Olympic Games. This data includes all Olympics up until and including 2014.

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• The city that submitted the most bids without ever hosting the Olympics is Detroit, USA.  They bid on seven Summer Games from 1944 to 1972.
• The city that submitted the most bids overall is Los Angeles, USA.  They bid on nine Summer Games from 1924 to 1984 and were chosen to host in 1932 and 1984.
• The country from which the most bids came is the United States with 56 bids.
• The continent from which the most bids came is Europe with 153 bids.
• Africa and Australia are tied for the continent from which the fewest bids have come (four apiece).
• The only city that has bid on hosting more than once and that has never lost a bid is London.  They bid on four Summer Games and were chosen to host all four times, although the London 1944 Games were canceled due to the war.
• The first North American cities to bid on hosting were Chicago and Saint Louis for the 1904 Games.  Chicago was originally chosen to host, but the host city was later switched to Saint Louis.
• The first African city to bid on hosting was Alexandria for the 1916 Games.  No African city has yet been chosen to host.
• The first South American cities to bid on hosting were Buenos Aires, Argentina and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 1936 Summer Games.  They remain the only South American cities that have ever bid on hosting, each city having submitted four bids. Rio de Janeiro became the first South American host city in 2016.
• The first Asian cities to bid on hosting were Sapporo and Tokyo, Japan for the 1940 Winter and Summer Games respectively.  Both cities won their bids, but the Winter Games were switched to Saint Moritz, Switzerland and the Summer Games were switched to Helsinki, Finland after war broke out between Japan and China.  Eventually both of the 1940 Olympics were completely canceled due to World War II, and the same decision was made in 1941 for the 1944 Games.  Tokyo became the first Asian host city in 1964, and Sapporo was the first Asian host of the Winter Games in 1972.
• The first Australian city to bid on hosting was Melbourne for the 1956 Summer Games (they won that bid).
• Cities that have submitted bids for both Summer and Winter Games are...
  • Montreal, Canada (they bid for both Olympics of the same year twice)
  • Helsinki, Finland
  • Munich, Germany
  • Minneapolis, United States
• The longest time between bids from the same city is 92 years.  Prague had submitted bids for two Olympics: the 1924 Summer Games and the 2016 Summer Games.
• The top five countries with the best ratios of winning bids to total bids are...
  • United Kingdom (60%)
  • Australia and South Korea (50% each)
  • France (42%)
  • Greece and Japan (40% each)
• The country with the most cities that have submitted bids is the United States with 22.
• The continent with the fewest cities that have submitted bids is South America with 2.

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Related Pages

• List of Summer Olympics Bid Cities
• List of Winter Olympics Bid Cities
• Olympic Games Trivia main page
• Olympics host city main page
• Olympic Games Quiz Night questions
• Olympic Firsts
• Winter Olympics Trivia