Munich: No to Games

Voters rejected plans for Munich to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, an embarrassing setback for newly elected International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach of Germany (pictured). Early results from Sunday’s ballot gave Olympic opponents a majority. Olympic planners needed to have a majority “yes” vote in all four Bavarian communities that went to the polls and were planned as the hubs of the games, including Munich itself and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the planned site for the glamorous Alpine events. Opponents of the Olympics won a majority in all four communities. A total of 1.3 million people, including 1 million alone in Munich, were eligible to vote in the ballot.

Associated Press