1960 Winter Olympics which made its selection to host the 1960 Winter Olympics a surprise. Wayne Poulsen and Alexander Cushing, who were inspired to an Olympic bid by a newspaper article mentioning that Reno, Nevada, and Anchorage, Alaska, had expressed interest in the Games. Poulsen, president of the Squaw Valley Development Company, petitioned California Governor Goodwin Knight to support a bid to host the Olympic Games. Knight's administration agreed and recommended that the California Legislature appropriate $1,000,000 to the effort. Based on the financial support received from the State of California, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) approved the bid on January 7,
2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots popular mascot from those submitted. It also took only about 40 minutes for Zoich to take the top spot. 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots The mascots for the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2014 Winter Paralympics were revealed on February 26, 2011. A shortlist of ten Olympic and three Paralympic designs had been shown to the public on February 7, 2011. Along with the 2008 Russian presidential election, on 2 March 2008 there was an unofficial election held in Sochi to elect the mascot for the 2014 Winter Olympics. 270,000 voters along with their ballots received a coupon