DECISION 2018: Only one round of voting decides Olympic hosts

Winter Olympics 2018Winter Sports

ONLY one round of voting in Durban was required to decide the hosts of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

CANDIDATES: Pyeongchang are favourites to land the 2018 Olympics. IOC members elected the host – to be revealed later – after just one round of voting. Jacques Rogge will announce the winner later (Reuters)

With seven absentees, 95 International Olympic Committee members were eligible to vote, meaning 48 votes would be enough to win outright.

Korean favourites Pyeongchang are bidding for the third time, having previously lost out to Sochi for the 2014 Games by just four votes and Vancouver, hosts in 2010, by three votes.

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Munich, whose bid is chaired by former Olympic figure skating champion Katarina Witt, is aiming to be the first city to host both the summer and winter Games.

The French town of Annecy is considered the outsider in the race, having suffered from internal issues amongst their bid team and mild criticism following IOC inspection visits.

The decision will be announced by IOC president Jacques Rogge shortly after 4pm BST.

Pyeongchang have long been considered frontrunners in the race, their case aided by a strong and compact bid, their previous defeats and the fact the 2014 Games will also be staged in Europe – and the continent hasn’t staged two consecutive Winter Olympics in more than 50 years.

Munich were thought to be narrowing the race in the final days before the vote but their best hope came from Annecy being eliminated in the first round and their votes, from the IOC’s European dominated membership, being reassigned to the German city.

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