Klagenfurt bid for the 2006 Winter Olympics

Klagenfurt 2006 (Austro-Bavarian: Klognfuat 2006; Slovene: Celovec 2006) was an unsuccessful multi-national bid submitted by Klagenfurt, Austria and the Austrian Olympic Committee to host the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was one of six candidates, but failed to be short-listed. The 2006 Winter Olympics were awarded to Turin.

The failed bid proposed by Tarvisio for the 2002 Winter Olympics planned to use venues placed in Italy and Slovenia. One of the principal motivations was to "demonstrate the unity, harmony, and friendship of a region which has existed and developed as such over centuries, despite changing conditions, separation by political borders and language barriers". The concept was considered to be interesting, but could have resulted in many potential organisational difficulties.^[1]

The proposed venues were located in three countries:^[2]

• Klagenfurt - ceremonies, main olympic village (Valden), women's ice hockey (Klagenfurt Trade Fairs), figure skating, short track, speed skating, curling (temporary ice rink)
• Nassfeld - alpine skiing (men's downhill, the combined downhill and super-G)
• Arnoldstein - alpine skiing (women’s downhill, combined downhill and super-G)
• Hohenthurn-Achomitz - biathlon
• Bad Kleinkirchheim - snowboard

• Tarvisio - alpine skiing (women’s slalom, combined slalom and giant slalom), freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined
• Cortina d'Ampezzo - Eugenio Monti track for bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton

• Ljubljana - men's ice hockey (two venues: Tivoli Hall and University Hall)
• Kranjska Gora - alpine skiing (men's slalom, combined slalom and giant slalom)
• Planica - ski-jumping, Nordic combined

Klagenfurt 2006 was the second of four consecutive bids to host the Winter Olympics in Austria. Ganz submitted a bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics, and Salzburg submitted bids to host the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Olympics.

The Italian town of Tarvisio previously bid for 2002 Winter Olympics and later became a part of the Klagenfurt 2006 bid. Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics jointly with Milan, and used the Cortina Sliding Centre, which is a full reconstruction of the Eugenio Monti Olympic Track that was a proposed venue for the Klagenfurt 2006 bid. Organizers for the 2026 Winter Olympics were encouraged by the IOC to use an existing sliding track in Innsbruck, Austria, but using venues in another country was met with protests from the Italian government.^[3]

Notes