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The Candidature Files are a blueprint of the proposed Olympic projects, providing a comprehensive overview of how a city will plan, organise and deliver the Games. This page brings together in one place the most comprehensive collection of Candidature Files for the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games.

The candidature process has evolved significantly over time, and so too has the documentation submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). For example, for early editions of the Games, the requirements were limited, with cities simply informing the IOC of their interest in hosting the Games. For the 1920 edition, the city of Antwerp (Belgium) published a detailed plan of its proposed strategy. In the 1950s, the IOC asked Candidate Cities to provide more comprehensive information, so that it could better evaluate the projects.

A significant step was taken by the IOC in 1992, with the introduction of a detailed process and technical questionnaire for the Olympic Games in 2000. This resulted in a standardised and transparent process facilitating the evaluation of the Candidate Cities, and providing the cities with a unique opportunity to take stock of their own sports and general infrastructure and facilities.

The International Olympic Committee has made significant improvements to its approach to future hosts since the election of Thomas Bach as IOC President in 2013 and the subsequent adoption of Olympic Agenda 2020. One of the key areas addressed by Olympic Agenda 2020 was the candidature procedure, with a new philosophy introduced that invited potential hosts to present projects that best fit their sporting, economic, social and environmental-planning needs rather than trying to fit the local context to the Games. 

With increased IOC assistance and expertise provided to future cities / regions / countries interested in hosting the Olympic Games, submissions to the IOC in the future will be greatly reduced from the traditional “Candidature File”. Further information can be found here.

On this page, we endeavour to give you a clear overview and easy access to the various Candidature Files that were previously submitted. When referring to the documentation below, it is essential also to consult the Reference document "The Olympic Host Candidature Process: Cities 1896-2028".

It is important to note that:
- For the 2002 to 2022 procedures, there was a two-stage process differentiating between Applicant Cities (first stage) and Candidate Cities (second stage). This page shows the Candidate Cities. The full list of the Applicant Cities is available in this document.
- Of the cities that withdrew during the candidature process, some did not submit or were not invited to submit a candidature file.

The collection of Candidature Files available at the Olympic Studies Centre is accessible below. This collection is supplemented, in particular for the earlier editions of the Games for which there was no official Candidature File, by a unique selection of documents from the IOC Historical Archives. If you wish to obtain more information on correspondence, posters or publications, please contact us at studies.centre@olympic.org.

Also, don’t miss our ZOOM IN page on the Candidature Process, with official and academic readings on the topic.

How to read this page:
Blue link: Candidature Files
Blue link*: IOC Historical Archives documents (mainly letters)
Black: Cities that did not publish or for which we do not have a candidature file or an archive document in our collections.
Bold: The cities in bold are those elected to host the Olympic Games or the Olympic Winter Games.

CANDIDATURES - OLYMPIC SUMMER GAMES
CANDIDATURES - OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES