Oslo to withdraw Olympic bid

Oslo, Norway (SportsNetwork.com) – The 2022 Winter Olympics bid for Oslo, Norway, was put on hold Wednesday after the government decided against giving financial support.

Oslo mayor Stian Berger Rosland said the city will withdraw its application after the government’s decision.

Norway’s capital hosted the 1952 Winter Games and fellow Norwegian town Lillehammer was the site for the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Only two cities — Beijing, China, and Almaty, Kazakhstan — will remain in the process for the 2022 Games. The International Olympic Committee will make its choice next July 31 in Kuala Lumpur.

Oslo becomes the latest Olympic hopeful to pull out of the process because of a lack of support. Stockholm withdrew its bid after the Swedish government failed to back it financially. Krakow, Poland was an original applicant in March, but voters in the country rejected the idea of an Olympic bid.

One other original applicant, Lviv, Ukraine, withdrew because political unrest forced officials to abandon their attempt to land the Games.

Categorized in: Olympics