Beijing Aims to Be First Summer and Winter Games Host

(ATR) Beijing launches its bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics after successfully hosting in 2008.

A team from the Chinese capital presented its plans for a 2022 bid during a press conference at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Driven by the municipal government of Beijing, the bid proposes to stage the ice arena events in the city with the snow events in Zhangjiakou, about 200 kilometers north.

Beijing is one of five cities applying to bid for 2022. The group includes Almaty, Kazakhstan; Kraków, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; and Oslo, Norway.

Bid leaders say the Winter Olympics would be a boost to the development of winter sports in China, which is competitive only in speedskating and figure skating events.

While venues are ready in Beijing, construction would be needed for the snow venues, as well as three new Olympic Villages. Organizers say they will use 12 venues, of which only three need to be built. The National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, built for the 2008 Games, would be the site of Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

A high-speed rail line would connect Beijing with Zhangjiakou, a multibillion-dollar project that would take place regardless of the success of the bid, say the Chinese officials.

IOC members tell Around the Rings that the biggest challenge facing the Beijing bid is timing. Pyeongchang in South Korea will host the preceding Winter Games in 2018 while Tokyo is the 2020 Summer Games host. One member said it was "impossible" for the IOC to award three consecutive games to Asia.

Asked at the press conference about this challenge, bid leader and VP of the Chinese Olympic Committee Yang Shuan gave and oblique answer.

"What we are focusing on is doing our own job -- for example, facilities, infrastructure, and also our team. As long as we build them well, then it’s good news already. Of course, the final say is within the international Olympic Committee. I am sure the IOC will have a very balanced view. As long as we do our job properly, do it well, we will make sure we have every possible condition and requirement to host the Winter Olympics," Yuan said.

Bid VP Yang Xiaochao said at the briefing that the proposal for the Winter Olympics in China will cost as little as possible.

"As China is the largest developing country in the world, encouraging diligence and frugality and avoiding extravagance and waste are the values which we should always respect," he said.

Beijing and the rest of the 2022 applicant cities have until March 14 to complete their dossier for submission to the IOC. The file will be reviewed by a panel of technical experts followed by a report which would be used by the IOC Executive Board in July to determine which cities will be invited to submit formal bids.

Click here to view more photos of winter sports in China from the Beijing/Zhangjiakou bid.

Homepage photo from Getty Images

Written and reported in Sochi by Ed Hula.

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