Inviting the world to your country, let alone your city, can be a pretty expensive venture. That's why, in 1976, the city of Denver ended up not hosting the Winter Olympics, even though the IOC had awarded the event to them. The people of Colorado voted to prohibit any public funds from being used for the Games, and Denver had to relinquish the privilege. It was then taken over by Innsbruck, who had just hosted the Winter Games only 12 years before. But once again, they did a stellar job.

The people of Montreal, Canada might have taken the advice of Colorado on the cost of such a venture. For Montreal's Summer Games the same year, turned into a financial disaster that would not be resolved for 30 years.

As costs began to mount higher and higher, exceeding even the wildest estimate for a budget, the mayor of Montreal was quoted as saying "The Montreal Olympics could no more have a deficit than a man could have a baby." The good mayor nearly had to deliver on that comparison, because the 1976 games cost a whopping two billion dollars.

Not to mention that they were rocked by controversy. Twenty-six African nations boycotted the Games, because in that era of apartheid, the New Zealand soccer team had dared to visit South Africa and play the teams there. Then Taiwan was banned, because Canada would not recognize them officially as China. Add to that, the allegations that the German female swimmers were using anabolic steroids, and many a Montrealer may have wished they were from Colorado.