58 Days

The bid to win the 2010 Winter Olympics came down to three cities: Vancouver, Canada; Salzburg, Austria and Pyeongchang, South Korea. Because European countries made up a large part of the vote with 58 members, many expected Salzburg to win the bid. Interestingly enough, Salzburg was the first city to be eliminated. In fact, it is believed that the European voters specifically did not vote for Salzburg, knowing that the International Olympic Committee does not usually put two consecutive Olympic Games on the same continent. Had Salzburg won the 2010 Olympic bid, cities like Madrid and Paris, who were gunning for the 2012 Summer Olympics (which was eventually won by London), would have lowered their own chances to host the Olympics.

I recently came across an article from the New York Times, written on June 9, 1908. The headline read, "AMERICAN ATHLETES FOR OLYMPIC GAMES; Seventy-six Men Selected to Represent the United States in London. MORE MEN MAY BE PICKED Supplemental List of 58 May Be Added If Sufficient Funds Are Raised -- Hard to Choose Men." I found it interesting that the United States, a super power and one of the leaders in Olympic medals, would have ever considered sending fewer athletes than allowed to an Olympic Games because of financial issues. There are many other countries today who can only afford to send athletes to the Olympics who are expected to make a good showing. However, what's great about the U.S. team is that they do have the funds to send a group comprised of medal contenders and also athletes who can live their dreams just by competing at the Olympics. The article continues on to say that the approximate cost per athlete was $325 and that the American Olympic Games Committee needed approximately $15,000 more to send all of the athletes. Check out the article here. In the end, 122 male athletes were sent to the 1908 Olympics. (The U.S. did not send female athletes to that Olympics.)