The Norwegian government have rejected Oslo's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics amid financial concerns, meaning the candidacy will almost certainly be dropped.
Oslo's withdrawal would leave just two cities in the race: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Members of the ruling Conservative party members voted against providing government financial guarantees for the bid. The junior partner in the minority coalition voted against four months ago.
Norwegian news agency NTB reported that the city of Oslo said it had withdrawn its application for government financial backing because it likely would not be approved by Parliament, which ultimately decides the fate of the bid.
"I had hoped for a different result tonight," Oslo Mayor Stian Berger Roesland said on Wednesday.
Parliament is expected to vote later this fall on the issue, but government opposition means it likely will reject the bid.
Stockholm; Krakow, Poland; and Lviv, Ukraine, had pulled out earlier from the 2022 race.
Before that, potential bids from Switzerland and Germany were abandoned when voters said no in referendums.
Many cities in Western Europe have been scared off by the $US51 billion ($A55.2 billion) price tag associated with the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
The IOC will select the 2022 host city on July 31, 2015, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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