Salzburg, competing against the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi and the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, was eliminated in the first round of voting at an International Olympic Committee meeting in Guatemala City.

The crowd of several hundred people, clutching umbrellas in the steady drizzle, whistled and booed as Salzburg's elimination was announced live on a large video screen.

"It's so disappointing. ... Hope dies last," said Salzburg native Peter Rittinger, a 23-year-old student at the University of Vienna.

"I really thought we had a chance," echoed Maria Breindel, who grew up in the same region as Franz Klammer, the former Olympic downhill gold medalist who traveled to Guatemala to promote the bid.

Salzburg's defeat did not come as a complete surprise.

The local committee lost its chief executive midway through the campaign. And over the past few months, the bid was dogged by the aftershocks of a blood-doping scandal involving Austrian athletes at the 2006 Turin Olympics. Not only did the IOC impose lifetime Olympic bans on six Austrian athletes, it also fined the Austrian Olympic Committee $1 million.

But those gathered in Salzburg late Wednesday dismissed that as the main reason for the bid's failure.

"I don't think it was doping, really — the others just had more money, more influence" said Herbert Egger, a cook, clutching a cup of beer and munching on a pretzel.

Austria hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976, both times in Innsbruck. In the vote for the 2010 games, Salzburg finished third behind winner Vancouver, British Columbia, and Pyeongchang.