Local residents in Hamburg and Kiel, where the sailing events would have been held, vetoed the proposed bid with 51.7 percent of the 650,000 votes against the Olympic bid while 48.3 were in favour.
This is the second time in two years that the German public has turned down the chance to host an Olympics after residents scuppered Munich's bid to host the 2022 Winter Games in a 2013 referendum.