Beijing selected to host 2022 Winter Olympics

An all-star team of presenters has been assembled to help Beijing make a final demonstration of its readiness to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and show the world its capacity to stage the winter sports gala. The voting numbers were not immediately released. Almaty claims that choosing the Kazakh city, the first time a central Asian city would host a Games, would be historical for the IOC and compared it to the organization’s ability to break barriers and its impact on the cold war and on apartheid, and in a nod to the city’s rival – the awarding of the Summer Games to China in 2008.

The IOC passed reforms in December which included a demand that host cities ban sexual discrimination and guarantee free reporting of the Olympics.

Almaty’s venues are all within a 30-kilometer (18-mile) radius of the city.

Two retired sports stars – former National Basketball Association player Yao Ming and two-time Grand Slam tennis champion Li Na – will appear on behalf of Beijing.

The Chinese capital won a secret ballot of IOC members. Now the consensus is that, as I’ve already mentioned, regardless of Beijing winning the bid or not, its participation will spur the development of professional ice skating facilities and ski resorts in the country, and getting Chinese people involved and hopefully fall in love with winter sports.

With only two cities – both run by what could be considered authoritarian regimes – bidding for the prestige of hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics the question arises as to whether the games – and specifically the winter games – have lost their allure.

President of the worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, speaks during the opening ceremony of IOC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, July 30, 2015.

Oslo’s decision not to continue was taken for both financial and political reasons, the Norwegian Olympic Committee Secretary General, Inge Anderson told CNN last October.

Almaty would stage “a Games that are centred on the needs of athletes and sport, not on the needs of (the) host country’s global image”, said Andrey Kryukov, vice chairman of the Almaty bid committee.

Almaty is surrounded by towering mountains and plenty of natural snow, but Beijing bid leaders insisted they have sufficient water supplies and snow-making equipment for ideal skiing conditions.

Beijing would use several venues from the 2008 Summer Olympics, including the “Bird’s Nest” stadium and “Water Cube” arena. Some were scared off the by the $51 billion price tag associated with the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Innsbruck hosted the 1964 and 1976 Olympic Winter Games, while Lillehammer held the 1994 Olympic Winter Games.

Both countries have human rights records that have been condemned by activist groups, but human rights have not played a major role in the public debate for the 2022 Games.