http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.htm...105&sid=1273675

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Promoters of Bern's bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics have begun their campaign to earn public approval.

But ahead of a vote on the issue, opponents say the Swiss capital cannot compete with the likes of Vancouver, which is also in the running.
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One unfortunate typo, "Switzerland was the first country to host the Winter Olympics in St Moritz in 1948, and it was high time, von Weissenfluh added, for the Games to 'come home.'" St. Moritz hosted the _second_ winter olympic games in 19_28_. France hosted the first games in 24, though they were originally an olympic winter festival, only declared the first winter olympic games after the event had already taken place, so Switzerland does have a claim to the first official winter games.
Bern's real competition is from Salzburg. I would suspect only one European country is going to make it onto the short list. Sarajevo is almost certainly not going to make it. Both their organizing committee and the IOC have made public comments about this being a training run for future bids.
That would leave Spain as the another European country, but even if they make the cut, Bern or Salzburg could still have a chance, but there's no way they'll have two Alpine countries on the short list, especially if there's another European country in the running.

The four finalists for the 2010 Winter Olympics are: Vancouver, Salzburg, Berne, and Pyeonechang (Korea).

I'm not sure if I want Vancouver to win as it will knock out Toronto's chance of getting a Summer Olympics in the forseeable future. We've lost to Atlanta and lost to Beijing... I'm thinking three times the charm.

What qualifies as "near future"? Atlanta got the Summer games in 1996 and Salt Lake City got the Winter games in 2002. So if Vancouver wins 2010, similarly Toronto could get the Summer 2016 games.

But Atlanta and Salt Lake both "bought" their Olympics. Toronto has proven itself unable to figure out this whole payola thing. Perhaps we should get the Russian mafia to fix it for us.

Crucial vote for Bern Olympic bid

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.htm...105&sid=1347560

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The people of Bern will vote on Sunday on whether to finance a SFr22.5 million ($15 million) credit package for the city’s 2010 Winter Olympics bid.

Organisers say a refusal will almost certainly mean the city will have to pull out of the Olympic race.
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Monday 23.09.2002, CET 02:14

Bern's Olympic dream falters

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.htm...105&sid=1351718

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The voters of Bern have firmly rejected plans to fund the city's 2010 Winter Olympics bid - effectively killing off the city's candidature.

Bid organisers conceded on Sunday that the refusal by voters to approve an SFr 22.5 million ($15 million) bid package would force the city to pull out of the Olympic race.
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