The towering basketballer is representing Beijing’s bid for the 2022 Olympics, and the diminutive figure skater is boosting the bid from Almaty, Kazakhstan.
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Zhang Zhenpeng, an organizer of Bayern Munich’s China tour, said he was surprised when he visited the Genting Ski resort in Zhangjiakou, a bidding partner with Beijing, which is propsed to host biathlon, Nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboard, and freestyle skiing events in 2022.
Although the Kazakhstan delegation was careful not to directly comment on their rival’s bid, which is strictly against worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) rules, the inference was clear. Malaysia is hosting the 128th IOC executive board meeting where the vote for the…
Just like the vote in Durban, South Africa that elected Pyeongchang host of the 2018 Winter Olympics, no one can say who will win, but we can be confident that the decision will have a lasting impact on one of two very different cities: Almaty in Kazakhstan and Beijing in China.
“Since the Olympics, we’ve held more than 180 major events here”, Xiang Jun, executive deputy general manager of the Bird’s Nest, told The Associated Press. But as they are the only candidates – four European cities withdrew because of the cost and political reasons – the IOC has little choice.
Beijing also promises a frugal plan, with a total budget of slightly over $3 billion, split roughly between organizing events and infrastructure construction, a fraction of the budget for the 2014 Winter Games at Sochi, Russia.
But while the Beijing bid had been the inside favorite, Almaty has emerged as a more robust contender than expected, boasting a strong winter sports tradition, plentiful natural snow and a compact design that places most venues less than an hour from the city center.
Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov has hit back at claims his country’s economic problems means Almaty would not be capable of hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, promising a $75 billion (£49 billion/€67 billion) sovereign wealth fund has been set aside to deal with such projects.
China was facing “a human rights crisis with a scale of violations that is unprecedented since 2008”, an open letter signed by dozens of high-profile dissidents including blind campaigner Chen Guangcheng, exiled writer Liao Yiwu, and civil rights lawyer Teng Biao, read, the Guardian reported. A planned high-speed rail line to Zhangjiakou is designed to cut travel time to 50 minutes. Chinese officials said they have plenty of water supplies and snow-making equipment to provide excellent conditions.
Bidding for the Winter Olympics will stimulate the grassroots participation in winter sports in China while helping achieve the goal of mass fitness and health, Liu said.
HOW MANY: The IOC has 100 members, but not all will be in attendance. The group called on the IOC to reject China’s bid “until there is independently verifiable and substantial improvement in the government’s human rights record”.
“Kazakhstan has the financial strength to deliver a great Winter Games without spending tens of billions of dollars”, Yessimov said.
Former Houston Rockets centre Yao will be one of the stars of the Chinese show for the IOC tomorrow, promising to spread the appeal of winter sports in the rising world power.
This will be the first selection vote since the IOC adopted Agenda 2020, which was designed to give host cities the flexibility to keep costs down. In case of a tie, a new round of voting will take place. For example, since Almaty first placed an Olympic bid in 2000, the city’s GDP has doubled.
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Almaty has the advantage of being surrounded by mountains and with a genuine winter sports heritage, with all venues contained within 18 miles – it has promoted the slogan “Keeping it Real”. Massimov essentially confirmed this idea, telling Reuters that “25 years ago we used to be part of the Soviet Union”.
