Almaty has hard-hitting final pitch for 2022 hosting rights

Each city was given 45 minutes to make their final pitches, with another 15 minutes allotted for questions and answers.

That’s likely to be the case more than ever today when the worldwide Olympic Committee chooses between Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, for the 2022 Winter Games.

The bid team from Kazakhstan urged the IOC to resist the temptation to go back to China and instead send a positive message to smaller developing countries that they too could host the world’s greatest sporting events.

Against that backdrop and after a low-key campaign, Beijing goes in as the strong favorite as it bids to become the first city to host both Summer and Winter Games.

IOC members were to vote later Friday after Beijing made its final presentation.

“We showed our advantages, we are created for winter sports”.

China’s proposal will see the indoor ice sports taking place in venues around Beijing, including some that were used in 2008 such as the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium and the Water Cube, while the outdoor skiing and sliding sports will be held at the mountain venues of Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.

Masimov said the IOC has been “brave” in the past, including by challenging apartheid in South Africa, going to Moscow for the 1980 Games at the height of the Cold War, and giving the games to Beijing in 2008. “Beijing 2008 allowed us to experience the Olympic spirit, and 2022 gives us a chance to carry on the spirit”.

Beijing’s biggest drawback, identified by the IOC, is a lack of snow at the mountain venues, which are some 90km and 160km respectively away from Beijing, forcing organisers to create tonnes of artificial snow. Chinese officials said they have plenty of water supplies and snow-making equipment to provide excellent conditions.

Beijing’s desire to deliver a successful 2022 Games was also reflected by its determination to tackle air pollution.

Beijing says the Olympics would help develop winter sports to a market of more than 300 million people in northern China.

The IOC president Thomas Bach has elected not to vote along while a handful of other members, including Federation Internationale de Football Association president Sepp Blatter, were not present.

Human rights groups have called on the IOC to ensure that the winning bid upholds new clauses in the host city contract on non-discrimination and protection of rights during the games.

All but two of venues needed to stage the Winter Olympics have already been built after Almaty hosted the Asian Winter Games in 2011, keeping construction costs to a minimum. But they were the only two candidates left after four European cities – including Oslo and Stockholm – pulled out for political or financial reasons.

Almaty hopes to bring the games to Central Asia for the first time and help raise Kazakhstan’s profile on the global stage.