The former Kazakh capital would stage “a games that are centered 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.
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Favorites Beijing and Almaty staged their final pleas to the global Olympic Committee on Friday, using political and sporting heavyweights to win the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Only two cities are in the running – Beijing and Almaty – after Oslo, Munich and Stockholm bowed to public pressure and decided not to pursue plans to host the winter sports showpiece.
The Beijing bid delegation had no sooner finished their congratulatory hugs and handshakes after being awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics than criticism from human rights groups over the IOC’s decision began to pour in.
Almaty hammered hard on its “Keeping it Real” theme, which is an indirect attack on Beijing’s lack of snow and winter sports tradition and the long distances between the Chinese capital and mountain venues.
“On behalf of our people, we ask that you take this step with China and honor us with your vote, a vote that will impact generations”, said Yu Zaiqing, Vice President of IOC and also Vice President of COC (Chinese Olympic Committtee).
Beijing held the summer Olympics in 2008 in what was then seen as China sealing its place as an emerging superpower.
At first glance, Almaty’s bid looks like it’s punching above its weight, pitching itself against Beijing.
“Our bid is all based upon facts”, he claimed, citing travel time, resources, real snow and winter atmosphere and financial stability, something considered a particular challenge for Kazakhstan to overcome in comparison with its rival.
Olympic skeleton champion Lizzie Yarnold told BBC Radio 5 live: “Before 2008 there was a lot of discussion around human rights and awareness around it. I hope that the worldwide Olympic Committee have taken that into consideration and are going to make actual changes this time, rather than just discuss it”.
Neither of the two candidate cities have previously hosted the Winter Olympics. China’s presentation of all the events, its Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and Olympic Village were all lauded.
Adding to Beijing’s bid is the city’s proven ability to control smog during the 2008 Summer Olympics. “We like football”, said one of the workers, who gave his family name as Chen.
“The honour of a second Olympic Games is a propaganda gift to China when what it needs is a slap in the face”, the global Tibet Network said in a statement. “More than half of our country experiences temperatures below freezing”. “China wants the world to ignore its deteriorating human rights and be impressed by Chinese can-do pragmatism instead”. Some were scared off the by the $51 billion price tag associated with the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
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However, IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday said the provisions could only be enforced “in the context of the Olympic Games“.
