Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics bid team hosts reception

Kuala Lumpur: Beijing on Friday narrowly won an IOC vote for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games that secured its place in sporting history. Now, Beijing will be the first do it – and in the span of just 14 years. “You are taking a lot of assumptions….”

Chinese state-run media on Saturday lauded the decision to award Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics, saying the city could handle any problem thrown at it and would aim to put on a “big party”.

Voting on which city would act as host was actually close, with Beijing winning out 44-40.

“I hope the Games could a benefit of the population in China“.

He said IOC voters had been impressed by the final presentation by Kazakh prime minister Karim Massimov. Chinese will have a chance to learn and be in love with winter sports.

The two contenders were supposedly the outsiders in the bid before Oslo, Munich and Stockholm withdrew from running due to pressure and financial concerns. “In fact, we are quite the opposite”.

IOC guest Wilson said the reasons for ‘s win were the existing facilities, the security and the economy. “And we will make greater efforts to make our country stronger and more prosperous and present a fabulous and excellent Winter Olympics.”The three major complexes for the 2022 Games will be located in downtown Beijing, the suburban Yanqing County in the city’s northwest, as well as Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei Province”.

By selecting Beijing, the IOC also appeared willing to accept what looks certain to be a seven-year barrage of questions and criticism over China’s human rights record. The South Korean city of Pyeongchang will host the 2018 Winter Olympics, and in 2020, the Summer Olympics will be held in the Japanese capital Tokyo.

Prior to the IOC decision, five Chinese human rights groups had urged the IOC to not award the Winter Olympics to China.

The contest was a study in contrasts between the world’s most populous nation and a former Soviet republic seeking to establish itself on the world stage.

Celebrations of Friday’s win were muted in Beijing – a stark contrast to the dancing-in-the-streets euphoria the city witnessed in 2001, when it won the 2008 Summer Games.

“I feel happy and proud”, 24-year-old office administrator Li Yi said in downtown Beijing. China’s political and economic might was a big advantage against its northwestern neighbor, which became independent in 1991.

In contrast to Almaty, Beijing would rely heavily on artificial snow.

The mountains where Alpine events are to be held, 50 miles from Beijing, get so little precipitation (an average 15 inches per year), that the organizers will be forced to use almost all man-made snow.

Human Rights Watch, which was highly critical of both China and Kazakhstan during the bid process, was quick to voice its displeasure.

“I’m walking down the main street of the village that is supposed to be a transport hub, after they construct a high-speed railroad from Beijing”, Anthony says.