CALGARY: Calgary’s hopes of hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics were dashed on Tuesday after citizens voted resoundingly against the western Canadian city’s plan to bid for the Games.

More than 56 per cent of voters said ‘No’ in the plebiscite, a surprisingly lopsided margin after both sides had expected a close call in the city which hosted the 1988 Winter Games.

After witnessing a high turnout, with more than 304,000 ballots cast in a reflection of the interest in the poll, the unofficial results had 132,832 opting ‘For’ and 171,750 ‘Against’ Calgary making a bid to host the Games.

The referendum result came after frenzied campaigning which saw pro-bid campaigners fail to convince Calgary residents that the city should foot a Can$390 million ($295 million US) chunk of the bill for hosting the event.

The city council is expected to address the results on Monday, but there is little doubt the bid seems dead.

The council has already shown skepticism, with eight of 15 members voting on Oct. 31 to scuttle the public vote. Ten votes were required for the vote not to be held.

The defeat is a huge blow to the International Olympic Committee, which has only two candidates officially declared: Stockholm, Sweden, and a joint Italian bid from Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo. Both bids also face opposition and financing problems.

Three other cities withdrew earlier this year Sapporo, Japan; Sion, Switzerland; Graz, Austria and Turkey’s Erzurum was eliminated last month by the IOC.

The IOC was left in a similar spot for the 2022 Winter Olympics when numerous bidders withdrew. Only two unlikely cities expressed final interest, with Beijing, China, winning narrowly in an IOC vote over Almtay, Kazakhstan.

The host for 2026 will be selected by the IOC in a vote on June 24 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2018