A tense afternoon of voting by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Prague saw Pyeongchang, the dark horse South Korean candidate, almost pull off one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history.
In the first round the Korean bid came within just six votes of a clear win, but in the second round run-off Vancouver picked up most of Salzburg’s 16 first round votes, to squeak through by 56 votes to 53.
Canada’s win looks good for London’s hopes of hosting the 2012 summer Games. The European bids from Paris, London, Madrid and Moscow were all likely to have suffered from a Salzburg win because the IOC were thought unlikely to chose two European venues in two years.
Vancouver’s win has also eliminated Toronto from the bidders for 2012, as it had already said it would bow out if another Canadian city won for 2010. That decision probably gave Vancouver the edge in the vote, because backers of many European city bids voted tactically to exclude Toronto from the race.
The day’s events were a shock to Salzburg, which saw itself as ‘the heart of the heart’ of Europe and thought it was neck and neck with Vancouver to win. But its European neighbours scuppered its bid by deserting one of their own to increase the chances of a European summer Games.
