Beijing to be host city of 2022 Winter Olympics
Friday 31 July 2015 16:15, UK
Bejing has been chosen as the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics, beating off competition from Kazakhstan's capital Almaty.
The Chinese capital will become the first city to host both the winter and summer Olympics. Beijing hosted the summer Games in 2008 and won a tight vote by 44 to 40.
Almaty had hoped to bring the games to Central Asia for the first time and raise Kazakhstan's profile on the international stage.
Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov made an impassioned last-minute plea for the IOC to be "brave" and give the games to his country, but it wasn't enough.
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.
China's size and political and economic might was a big advantage against the Kazakhs, who only became independent in 1991.
Beijing and Almaty had both been considered long shots when the 2022 bid race opened two years ago.
But they were the only two candidates left after four European cities including Oslo and Stockholm pulled out for political or financial reasons.
Beijing plans to use several venues from the 2008 Olympics, including the 'Bird's Nest' stadium and 'Water Cube' arena. But the snow and sliding events would be at venues in Yangqing and Zhangjiakou, 40 and 90 miles outside Beijing respectively.
A planned high-speed rail line to Zhangjiakou is supposed to cut travel time to 50 minutes.
China's mountain venues also rely heavily on man-made snow, which was considered one of the bid's main weaknesses and one that was the target of Almaty's "Keeping it Real" slogan.
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.
The Beijing 2022 bid committee said in a statement: "We are honoured and humbled by the IOC's decision to award Beijing the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic winter Games. It is with an incredible sense of excitement that we express our thanks to the IOC and the wider Olympic Movement.
