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Trondheimdd2014olys

The 2014 Winter Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, will take place in Trondheim, Norway, from February 7 to 23, 2014.

History[]

As preparations began for the Zürich Games, following their announcement in the late spring of 2009, the IOC put out a call for bids for another Winter Olympics, tentatively set for 2014. The deadline for bids was set as being the start of the Zürich Games, with the choice being made at its conclusion.

Five bids were submitted prior to the deadline, one of which was also withdrawn in the same timespan.

When the Summer Games were delayed by two years at the IOC's meeting on November 24, 2009, it was decided to leave the tentative winter games set for 2014 on the Olympic schedule.

Bids[]

Andorra[]

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Andorra's bid came as a surprise to the world - the small principality had never before bid on anything.

Over the years, several ski areas had been constructed in the area, so it was considered a strong bid in that regard. However, in virtually every other way, it was found to be lacking. Transportation infrastructure was almost non-existent, no arenas that could be used to host events existed, and the population far too small to pay for the games. Indeed, the Andorran capital, where most events would be held, lacked even a small airport. The government did promise to rectify that problem, and even build a rail line, but they could not give a good answer as to where the funding would come from. Still others were put off by the thought of Europe playing host to two Winter Games in a row.

In the end, the bid, while admirable, was not given much consideration, and placed last in the IOC voting. They did, however, note that they hoped to see more bids in the future from the small principality.

Krasnoyarsk[]

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Following their loss in the bidding for the 2012 Summer Games, the Siberian government changed their focus to bidding in the Winter Games, perceiving their odds to win as being better.

Like most of the other bidding cities, Krasnoyarsk held many of the needed venues for hosting the games. Their only major shortcoming was in skiing venues, with most skiing events to be held more than 300 miles away at Sheregesh. While not a major problem, it made the difficulty of transportation to the area more obvious - something the bid could ill afford, since it was one of the primary reasons why the city lost its bid for the 2012 Summer Games.

Still, it was considered one of the favorites to win, with Trondheim, when the bid was made, and remained that way until shortly before the voting was to take place.

One month prior to the voting, however, the Siberian government launched its campaign to take over the Central Asian state of Aralia, overrunning it fairly easily. While in their claimed territory, it was considered by many to be an act of naked aggression - and hurt the chances for their bid. Resistance after the surrender of the Aralian government gave rise to security concerns, as well.

That the concerns for the Zürich Games, ongoing around the bidding process, ended up being of little importance to its operations didn't help matters, either. It raised the Ljubljana bid in the eyes of the IOC, giving more credibility to that bid - its problems were largely the same as with Zürich, after all.

In the end, Krasnoyarsk did worse than expected, placing third and being dropped after the second round of voting, but doing far better than Andorra.

Ljubljana[]

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Following the example of its neighbor, the Slovenian government decided to launch a bid for the 2014 Games. Initially, it was thought that this closeness might significantly hinder their bid. This proved to not be the case.

Ljubljana and the surrounding area held much of the needed infrastructure to put on the games, and the government promised to build the few facilities - a large arena for ice hockey topping the list - needed. Funding was not much of an issue, either. There was also a significant number of people who believed that the city had the right to host a Winter Games - after all, it was part of the former Yugoslavia, and a city in that state, Sarajevo, had been scheduled to host the 1984 Games before Doomsday occurred.

The two main problems for the bid, however, were questions of transportation, and security. With regards to transportation, virtually all the issues associated with the Zurich Games applied to the city as well, though it was mildly closer to the ocean, making it slightly easier. Security was the major concern, though - the Sicilian Republic remained a concern for the world, and the start of open warfare in the Mediterranean between that government and the Atlantic Defense Community in October 2009 only made it worse. And the closeness of the city to Zürich did not help the situation, especially with the grumbling in some corners about Europe potentially hosting two Winter Games in a row.

Yet, in the end, the comparisons to Zürich actually aided the bid. That that city did a wonderful job as the primary host of the 2010 Games, and the torch relay from Greece, despite the war, went well, proved a real boon for the bid. These aspects going on while the members of the Committee were considering their votes likely led to the bid getting a larger number of them than it would have gotten otherwise. Indeed, the bid had been thought of as likely to be in third place going into the Zürich Games, behind Trondheim and Krasnoyarsk. But these events, along with international displeasure at the Siberian takeover of Aralia, caused a drop in votes for the Siberian capital. Ljubljana benefited, doing better than expected, and lost on the final ballot to Trondheim.

St. John's[]

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The first bid to be made after the spring announcement was from St. John's, the Canadian capital city.

With a large number of facilities both in the city and in nearby areas, it was a very strong bid. Unlike with Zürich, transportation would be of little issue with the bid - the city, as the premier port city in the Americas north of the Caribbean, would be far more accessible to the world. The bid was, in fact, thought to be favored in some corners in the months after the bid was announced.

However, this quickly took a tumble in September, when the Prime Minister of Saguenay was assassinated, later determined to have done by elements of the Canadian First Party. The death led to the Saguenay government, quickly joined by the Republic of Superior, to declare war upon Canada.

By itself, this was not horrible for the bid. On its own, Saguenay was not considered much of a threat to Canada, and Superior was expected to play almost no role in the fighting, since the Lawrence Raiders were between the two areas. Still, calls to withdraw the bid began.

Calls got louder after Saguenay landed troops on the Gaspe Peninsula, and intensified beyond that once Superior declared war, a counterattack failed horribly, and Saguenay secured the entire peninsula.

The Canadian government lost the 2009 election shortly thereafter - the Canadian First Party took power from them. While the military reverses were the primary cause, the Olympic bid not being dropped in face of war did not help, even though the new security risks meant there was little to no chance that it could win by that point.

Upon his victory in the election, new PM Natynczyk dropped the the bid almost immediately, citing the expenses of the war and the security situation.

Trondheim[]

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Almost immediately following the opening of the bidding process, the membership of the Nordic Union agreed to launch a joint bid for the Games. After some debate, it was agreed that they would go through their own short bidding process, with the Nordic Law Thing picking the nominee. Three bids were put to the Thing, from the Swedish city of Östersund, the Finnish city of Tampere, and the Norwegian capital of Trondheim.

After weighing the pros and cons of each of the bids, a voting process much like that of the IOC selection process, was conducted. After two rounds, Trondheim was declared the victor, and received the blessing of the Thing to take its bid to the IOC. It is believed that the city being somewhat more accessible to the world was a key role in its victory here. Tampere placed second, with concerns over accessibility and venues likely being in other locations being factors for the choice. Östersund was easily eliminated first, being considered far too small to be an effective host.

Following its selection as the Nordic candidate, the Trondheim bid was considered to be one of the favorites - and following the dropping of the St. John's bid in October, the outright favorite, with Krasnoyarsk nipping at its proverbial heels.

Overall, there was only two small problems with the bid - both related to its geographical location. Being in Europe, it would be more difficult for some of the delegations to get to the city, similar to the case with Zürich. And, some were displeased with the thought of Europe hosting two games in a row.

All of the venues that could possibly be needed were already in the area, even for the skiing events - and the government pledged to build a new arena, in addition to those already existing in the city, to sweeten that picture. Being a port city on the Atlantic, it would be very accessible to the world. And its geographic location meant it would be quite secure from outside threats.

Events in Asia just prior to voting reduced the threat that Krasnoyarsk played to the Trondheim bid - indeed, Ljubljana vaulted ahead of the Siberian city as a result of these issues. In the end, it came down to either the Slovenian capital, or Trondheim - which had led in every round of voting - and it was no contest. Trondheim easily came out ahead, and was awarded the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Venues[]

While most events will be held in and around the city of Trondheim, other events, in part, will be held in other locations.

Venues scheduled to be used:

  • Bymarka, Trondheim: Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing.
  • Gjøvik Stadion, Gjøvik: Speed Skating.
  • Granåsen, Trondheim: Freestyle Skiing, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping.
  • Hamar stadion, Hamar: Bandy.
  • Leangen Ishall, Trondheim: Figure Skating, Ice Hockey.
  • Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim: Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Construction on a retractable roof is underway, and scheduled to be completed sometime in July, 2013.
  • Øya stadion, Trondheim: Curling. Temporary Dome to be finished by 2014.
  • Sparta Amfi, Sarpsborg: Ice Stock.
  • Stavanger Ishall, Stavanger: Bandy, Ice Stock.
  • Trondheim Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track, Trondheim: Bobsled, Luge, and Skeleton. Construction completed in November, 2012.
  • Storhamar Ishall, Hamar: Ice Hockey.
  • Vassfjellet, Sør-Trøndelag County: Alpine Skiing, Telemark Skiing

Torch Relay[]

Opening and Closing Ceremonies[]

Participating Nations[]

Events[]

During their sessions concurrent with the 2012 Summer Games, the IOC voted on which events to include in the 2014 Games. The events they voted to have at the games were:

  • Alpine Skiing
    • Combined
    • Downhill
    • Giant Slalom
    • Slalom
    • Super-G
  • Bandy
  • Biathlon
    • 20 km
    • 4x7.5 km relay
  • Bobsleigh
    • 2-man
    • 4-man
  • Curling
  • Figure Skating
    • Ice Dancing
    • Pairs
    • Singles
  • Freestyle Skiing
    • Aerials
    • Combined
    • Moguls
  • Ice Hockey
  • Ice Stock
  • Luge
    • Singles
    • Doubles
  • Cross-Country Skiing
    • 15 km
    • 50 km
    • 4x10 km relay
  • Nordic Combined
  • Skeleton
  • Ski Jumping
  • Ski-Orienteering
  • Speed Skating
    • 500m
    • 1500m
    • 5,000m
    • 10,000m
    • Team Pursuit

In addition, the organizing committee decided to include Telemark Skiing as a demonstration sport.

Preceded by Winter Olympic Games
Trondheim

XXII Olympiad (2014)
Succeeded by
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