SALZBURG, Austria -- A small, subdued crowd gathered in a Salzburg park expressed dismay late Wednesday after the renowned Alpine ski region lost its bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Salzburg, competing against the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi and the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, was eliminated in the first round of voting at an International Olympic Committee meeting in Guatemala City.
The crowd of an estimated several hundred people, clutching umbrellas and huddling under trees due to the steady drizzle and chilly temperature, briefly whistled and jeered as Salzburg's elimination was announced live on a large video screen.
In the hours leading up to the vote, those gathered showed little enthusiasm, suggesting many may have suspected Salzburg would not be picked.
"It's so disappointing. ... Hope dies last," said Salzburg native Peter Rittinger, a 23-year-old student at the University of Vienna.
"I really thought we had a chance," echoed Maria Breindel, who grew up in the same region as Franz Klammer, the former Olympic downhill gold medalist who traveled to Guatemala to promote the bid.
Others appeared ambivalent or even relieved about the defeat.
"Thank God," said Christian Bratsch, who said he was involved in an initiative opposing the bid.
In Guatemala, members of the Salzburg delegation, some of them weeping, embraced and consoled one another at a restaurant where they watched the vote.
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said he thought Salzburg's presentation was "wonderful" but added politics and power derailed their bid.
"I said from the very beginning, if it is a decision for the Olympic ideal, then we have a chance and then we are going to run," Gusenbauer said. "If it is a decision on geopolitics and money, then we have no chance. We have no chance to participate in that type of power play."
Still, Salzburg's defeat did not come as a complete surprise.
The local committee lost its chief executive midway through the campaign. And over the past few months, the bid was dogged by the aftershocks of a blood-doping scandal involving Austrian athletes at the 2006 Turin Olympics. Not only did the IOC impose lifetime Olympic bans on six Austrian athletes, it also fined the Austrian Olympic Committee $1 million.
But those gathered in Salzburg late Wednesday dismissed that as the main reason for the bid's failure.
"I don't think it was doping, really -- the others just had more money, more influence" said Herbert Egger, a cook, clutching a cup of beer and munching on a pretzel.
Austria hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976, both times in Innsbruck. In the vote for the 2010 games, Salzburg finished third behind winner Vancouver, British Columbia, and Pyeongchang.
Those gathered were also largely against Salzburg giving the games another shot.
"It's time to give up," said Peter Bernhofer, a Salzburg innkeeper.
