The town of just under 21,000 residents, which is due to host the snow events if Munich are awarded the Games, saw 59.6 per cent of the population take part in the referendum meaning that just under 12,500 people cast a vote on the issue.

A total of 49.4 per cent voted for NOlympia meaning that they are opposed to the big event but 58.1 per cent of people voted for OlympJa to show that they were in favour of the 2018 Games coming to Garmisch if Munich's bid is successful.

In a second referendum that asked residents to vote on whether the contracts signed for the Games needed to be re-examined by independent experts, 50.59 per cent voted No and 49.41 voted Yes meaning that the contracts will not be re-examined.

The figure backing the Games, though, was narrowly short of the 60 to 70 per cent Peter Fischer, leader of the OlympJa movement, had claimed was necessary to show there was clear support for it in Garmisch, which hosted the controversial 1936 Winter Olympics.

Bernand Schwank, the chief executive of Munich 2018, neverthless claimed he was delighted with the result and insisted that it puts his team in a great position in their three-horse race with rivals Annecy and Pyeongchang.

"The results of the referendum have confirmed that the majority of the population is in favour of the Munich 2018 bid so we are delighted," he said.

"We are very pleased to be fully in the race with the other two candidates and we now have a very strong chance of winning.

"We can now look forward with renewed optimism to the reports of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) Evaluation Commission which will be published in two days' time, the technical presentations in Lausanne on May 18 and, of course, the final vote in Durban on July 6.


Thomas Bach (pictured left), President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), added his delight at the result but claimed he had been highly confident from the beginning that the residents of Garmisch-Partenkirchen would back Munich's bid.

"For me, this is just confirmation of what I have always known would happen because I have always known that the residents of the area support our bid so I was highly confident we would win," said Bach, who is also vice-president of the IOC and chairman of the Munich 2018 Supervisory Board.

"I am also happy with the margin of the victory in the referendums.

"Despite the best efforts of the opponents to work against us with the wrong arguments and the wrong facts, they still failed to secure a majority.

"The vote is final and cannot be challenged.

"We must now actually be grateful to our opponents as they have strengthened our bid.

"We now have not only the public opinion polls to show that we are supported by residents but also the legal vote also shows the support.

"We move on now stronger than we were before and extremely confident as we get to the final stages of the bid.

"The people of Vancouver voted in favour of the Winter Games with a 64 per cent majority in a referendum a couple of days before their Evaluation Commission visit.

"A few months later, they were elected to host the 2010 Winter Games."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
May 2011: Munich 2018 faces moment of truth in Garmisch-Partenkirchen referendum
March 2011: Bach expects "overwhelming majority" in favour of Munich 2018 in referendum
March 2011: IOC Evaluation Commission greeted with cheers not jeers in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
February 2011: Thomas Bach - "Landowers are not a problem" for Munich 2018