Annecy loses bid for Winter Games

POLITICIANS and athletes have expressed their disappointment after Annecy's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games was thrown out.

The French bid received just seven votes from the International Olympic Committee, beaten by Pyeongchang, in South Korea, which picked up 63 votes.

French IOC member and former Olympic champion Guy Drut said the news was "a cold shower" for France.

Annecy 2018 president Charles Beigbeder said: "We're very proud of what we have achieved - but we have lost and we are extremely disappointed."

Sports minister Chantal Jouanno added: "It's a disappointment for all the athletes and hundreds of other people who have worked on the bid for months and years. We will learn from this defeat."

France has been widely tipped to be considering a bid for the summer Olympic Games in 2020 or 2024. Nice is also preparing a bid for the 2022 winter games.

The country last staged the Winter Games in 1992 in Albertville, its third games after Chamonix in 1924 and Grenoble in 1968.