HAMBURG, Germany, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Hamburg dropped its bid Sunday to host the 2024 Summer Olympic after a local referendum.
Residents in the German city voted it down 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent and the bid committee said it would shut down operations soon.
"The result is bitter for us," Nikolas Hill, leader of the city's bid, said. "Without the majority support of the citizens of Hamburg in 2024, we will not bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to our city."
Munich was the last German city to host the Olympics, back in 1972. Munich considered a bid to host the 2022 winter games, but that was also voted down. German Olympic officials chose Hamburg over Berlin to be the country's bid representative, but critics declared the city's plan wasteful and expensive.
"That's a decision that we didn't want, but it's clear," said Hamburg mayor Olaf Scholz after the vote.
Los Angeles and Paris appear to remain front-runners in the 2024 bid. The cities of Rome and Budapest, Hungary are also still in pursuit of hosting the games. The city of Boston withdrew its bid in July.
"With these strong competitors we all can look forward to an exciting Olympic Games 2024, whoever the winner will be," an International Olympic Committee spokesman said in a statement.
The International Olympic Committee will select a host in September 2017.
