Beijing has been confirmed as a one of three cities officially bidding to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee announced yesterday.
If successful, the Chinese capital would make history as the first city to hold both the summer and winter games, having hosted the 2008 Olympics.
But first they must convince judges they are more worthy than Oslo, who hosted the event back in 1952 (the Norwegians also hosted the games in 1994 at Lillehammer, so time to give someone else a chance, you greedy vikings) and Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan.
Almaty have Borat on their side, so are a slightly more serious threat.
On that note, when Kazakh Mariya Dmitriyenko won the gold medal in the 75 target event at the 10th Arab Shooting Championship in Kuwait in 2012 and stood on the podium expecting to hear the sound of the Kazakhstan national anthem, she was instead treated to the obscene lyrics of the spoof Kazakhstan anthem from the film Borat.
True story...
"Kazakhstan greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls."
Where were we? Oh yeah, Winter Olympics.
The three cities were the only remaining bidders in the race after the Swedish capital Stockholm, Krakow in Poland and Lviv in Ukraine pulled out.
Beijing 2022 is actually a joint bid by Beijing with Zhangjiakou, a city in Hebei Province located 190 kilometers northwest of Beijing.
IOC President Thomas Bach told reporters that a meeting of the Olympic body’s executive committee had “extensively discussed” the bids of Beijing, Oslo and Almaty during a session yesterday.
“These three candidates have totally different approaches in terms of heritage, budget, infrastructure, but all impressed us,” he said IOC President Thomas Bach at their Lake Geneva-shore headquarters in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
The winner will be announced on July 31, 2015 at an IOC congress in Kuala Lumpur.
The 2018 Winter Games will take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, while the 2014 edition was held in Sochi, Russia.
Plenty went down there...
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Bach underlined that the IOC does not have a one-size-fits-all approach to the Olympics.
“The cities are encouraged to produce bids that are best suited to their circumstances. The plans should reflect their own specific vision for how the Olympic Games can benefit their cities and regions to ensure positive, sustainable legacies for their populations. Oslo, Almaty and Beijing have addressed this,” he said.
But yeah, Borat. He's gonna be tough to beat...
"Almaty 2022 Winter Olympics for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan!"
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