By Kim Tong-hyung
Korea Times Correspondent
GUATEMALA CITY __ PyeongChang's bid to host the Olympic Winter Games fell short yet again after losing a two-way race with Russia's Sochi in an International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote Wednesday (Thursday Korean time).
The Gangwon Province resort town lost by a small margin, 51-47, to Sochi in the final round of IOC voting. The third candidate, Salzburg, Austria, was eliminated in the first round.
``We did our best but failed. We thought we were the most qualified candidate to bring in the Winter Olympics and performed well in our presentation but the results did not match our anticipation,'' said an emotional Han Seung-soo, chairman of PyeongChang's bid committee. Moments later, Han left the newsroom at the Holiday Inn Hotel bursting in tears as he shook hands with Korean media members.
Kim Jin-sun, in his last year as Gangwon Province Governor, refused to comment on whether he expects PyeongChang to give the winter games another try.
``Would PyeongChang put up another challenge? I hope you understand that is not a matter I intend to think or talk about right now,'' he said.
It was a heart-wrenching loss for PyeongChang, who actually led the first round with 36 votes, followed by Sochi with 34 and Salzburg with 25. Sochi picked up 17 of what likely were Salzburg's votes in the second round to secure victory.
PyeongChang also lost its 2010 winter games bid in similar fashion, falling just three votes shy of Vancouver after gathering more votes than the Canadian city in the first round. Salzburg was eliminated in the first round of that vote as well.
Heinz Schaden, Salzburg mayor and chairman of the Olympic bid, said it's unlikely that the ``city of Mozart'' will give it a third try.
``We will let others lead the way now,'' Schaden told The Korea Times.
The smooth-talking Austrian failed to hide a sense of disgust when asked whether he thinks the Olympic bidding process has turned into a battle of money and politics.
``I don't want to comment on the other candidates. We just hoped that a lot of IOC members would appreciate what we could bring to the Olympic games and movement, but it wasn't that day,'' he said.
The Russians had promised to spend more than $12 billion should Sochi win the Olympic bid, which is more than what PyeongChang and Salzburg were looking to spend combined.
The 2014 winter games campaign was also a full-blown presidential battle with President Roh Moo-hyun, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer flying in to tout their bids to IOC members.
The three leaders addressed IOC members during their respective presentations held a few hours ahead of the voting.
Austria hosted the Winter Games twice, both in the city of Innsbruck in 1964 and 1976, but neither South Korea nor Russia has ever played host. No Winter Games have been held outside Europe or North America except in Japan, who hosted in 1972 and 1998.
``All of the Korean people helped in their own way but it wasn't enough. My heart goes out to all the Gangwon Province residents and all the others who cared about PyeongChang's effort,'' said President Roh, who is to return home Saturday after a one-night stopover in Hawaii.