Trondheim and the northern city of Tromsø already have expressed interest in hosting a new Winter Olympics, or "OL," as the games are called in Norway.

Oslo's city council (bystyre) voted almost unanimously on Wednesday evening to seek the Games themselves.

"For the youth of Oslo, and for future generations, such an arrangement would represent a major boost for sports facilities that would be re-used," said Oslo Mayor Per Ditlev-Simonsen.

"In our city, there wouldn't be any danger that a single arena or facility would be left standing unused, or would be torn down."

Oslo has been cleared to host the skiing World Championships in 2011, and the city politicians believe much of the investment in new facilities for those events could be a base for a new Olympics.

Only the far-left party Rød Valgallianse (RV) voted against efforts to secure the Winter Olympics for Oslo, considering it a waste of money.

Liv Guldbrandsen of RV said it was wrong to make the Olympics a priority when Oslo has schools that are rundown and 10,000 residents living below the poverty line.

She was overruled by colleagues who also agreed to earmark NOK 6 million for work on the Olympic application and the competition Oslo faces against Tromsø and Trondheim.

Norwegian athletic officials will choose a candidate city next March, also based on how much state support each city would receive. The International Olympic Committee won't choose a host city until June 2011.