Olympic Games Czech Republic, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States) have participated in all twenty-three Winter Games to date. The host city for an Olympic Games is usually chosen seven to eight years ahead of their celebration. The process of selection is carried out in two phases that span a two-year period. The prospective host city applies to its country's National Olympic Committee; if more than one city from the same country submits a proposal to its NOC, the national committee typically holds an internal selection, since only one city per NOC can
Olympic Games session following a celebration of the Olympic Games. During such revisions, sports can be excluded or included in the programme on the basis of a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the IOC. There are recognised sports that have never been on an Olympic programme in any capacity, including chess and surfing. In October and November 2004, the IOC established an Olympic Programme Commission, which was tasked with reviewing the sports on the Olympic programme and all non-Olympic recognised sports. The goal was to apply a systematic approach to establishing the Olympic programme for each celebration of the Games.