Alaska’s Attempts to Host the Winter Olympics

The Olympic Winter Games began in Milano Cortino, Italy on 02/06/26 and the reader may be wondering: Why hasn’t Alaska had its chance to host the Winter Games yet? Alaska has not sat idly on the sidelines during this most important competition. Anchorage has made “five serious bids” to host the Winter Olympics in 1960, 1972, 1992, 1994 and 1998.

George Byer, Anchorage’s Mayor from 1959-1961 attempted to bring the Winter Games to Anchorage in 1960 and 1972. The 1960 bid had little chance due to Anchorage being considered too remote and lacking necessary infrastructure. However, Anchorage’s 1972 bid looked more promising as it had by then become a major airline hub. 

Anchorage also had a plan to address its lack of infrastructure, as Alaska historian Pierce Bateman noted, “…the vacant buildings in Whittier, a small, former military town near Girdwood, about 60 miles from Anchorage and connected to the city by rail…were the largest structures in Alaska at the time of their construction and could easily house 2,000 people under one roof in a sort of retrofitted Olympic Village.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) opted for Sapporo, Japan instead.

Anchorage did not abandon its dream to host the Winter Olympics. It submitted three more bids during the 1980s to host the Winter Olympics in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Anchorage’s 1992 bid looked favorable, due to the post 1972 bid construction boom. As Bateman writes, “The oil revenues generated by the pipeline filled Alaska’s coffers…Alaska’s legislature embarked on projects to distribute this newfound wealth to all Alaskans across the state. For Anchorage, this distribution came in the form of subsidized construction plans known as Project 80s..Project 80s was to develop the city’s winter recreation with the explicit goal of hosting the Winter Olympics.” 

Project 80s added many new buildings necessary for Anchorage to successfully host the Winter Olympics including the Sullivan Arena (1983), Dempsey Ice Arena (1984), and Fire Lake Arena (1984) to name a few. Nevertheless, even with Anchorage’s improved infrastructure the IOC selected Albertville, France. Undeterred, Anchorage submitted its 1994 bid but lost to Lillehammer, Norway. Anchorage made a final bid for the 1998 Winter Olympics, but this bid too ended in a loss to Nagano, Japan.

Anchorage’s bids to host the Winter Olympic Games have so far been unsuccessful. One could argue that the city of Anchorage with its subarctic climate has a more ideal environment for hosting the Winter Games than many other cities chosen in recent memory. For example, the Beijing Games (2022) were held in the warm temperate zone, Pyeongchang Games (2018) were held in a humid continental climate, and the Sochi Games (2014) were remarkably held in a subtropical climate! 

Perhaps Anchorage will get its chance to host the Winter Games in the future, simply due to Anchorage’s winters being more reliable than its southern competitors.

Interesting Facts:

• The IOC voted to alternate the Summer and Winter Olympics on even-numbered years in 1986. The last year both the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics were held together was 1992.
• In 1994, the year Lillehammer Norway hosted the Winter Olympics its population was 26,000. In contrast Anchorage Alaska’s population in 1994 was more than 222,000. 
• “An economic study of the games’ potential effects conservatively estimated that hosting the Olympics would bring roughly one billion dollars to the state between the late 1980s and the year 2000, and that Anchorage would generate roughly half a billion dollars in direct revenue.” (see Bateman pg.43).

Further Reading:

Pierce Bateman, “Our Anchorage, an International Host”: A History of Alaska’s Bids to Host the Winter Olympic Games, 1947–1989” Alaska History Vol.38 no.1 (Spring 2023), 29-54. 

Economic Research Associates, Community Economic Impact Resulting from Conduct of the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in the Municipality of Anchorage, Prepared for the Anchorage Organizing Committee for the 1992 Olympics (Los Angeles: Economic Research Associates, 1985), 5 and 47, box 30, folder Research/surveys, AOCUAA.

Kennedy, C. (2014, February 10). Sochi among the warmest Winter Olympics host cities | NOAA Climate.gov. www.climate.gov. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/sochi-among-warmest-winter-olympics-host-cities.