2018: The Test for Big Cities

An undercurrent of the race for the 2018 bid cities that I don't think is really being discussed is the comparison between big cities and smaller villages as Winter Olympic hosts. Before the 2000's, the Winter Olympics were mainly focused on small mountain communities (Albertville, Lillehammer, Lake Placid) with a few exceptions (Calgary, Sapporo). Starting with Salt Lake, the Olympic hosts were metropolises that got bigger and bigger. Vancouver will be the most populous host of the Winter Olympics yet.

The 2018 bids place a large city (Munich with 5M in the metro area) against less populous regions (Annecy and Pyeongchang- each with about 50k residents). While the construction of the bids and quality of presentation and messaging will play a large role, the size and infrastructure of each candidate may help or harm it.

The 2018 race will be a vote of confidence for how well the larger cities handled the games and how well the IOC felt that the larger cities reflected the Olympic brand, environment, and culture. Smaller cities can be more comprehensively and intimately involved in the Olympic experience, but might lack the efficiency of a Vancouver, Denver, or Munich. Once the politics have been sifted through and analyzed, there should definitely be a message to future hosts of what the IOC is looking for in the next few bids.