An ice sculpture promoting Beijing's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Chinese capital is aiming to become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. (Photo : China Daily)
Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, have presented their respective bidding projects on Tuesday to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as the two candidate cities hope to earn the prestige of hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Delegations from both cities conducted presentations and answered questions on Tuesday at the Olympic Museum in the Swiss City of Lausanne, while additional 2022 candidate city promotional activities were presented to IOC members on the next day, the state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.
If successful, the Chinese capital will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
Formally announcing its bid to IOC members as a candidate city in Nov. 2013, Beijing established the Olympic Games Bidding Committee in Jan. 2014 and was one of the three cities chosen by the IOC's executive board in July that same year.
Norway's capital Oslo subsequently withdrew its candidacy later in 2014, leaving only Almaty and Beijing in the race.
As with Beijing's 2008 summer Olympics, which contributed significantly to the development of the Olympic movement and the spread of Olympic values, China hopes to bring the Winter Olympics to the country for the first time, the report said.
In a statement, the Beijing Olympic Games Bidding Committee said that it is committed to prioritizing the wellbeing of the athletes above all else, while ensuring sustainable development and supporting pragmatic economic planning.
According to a report from the 2022 Evaluation Commission published earlier this month, Beijing seeks to incorporate winter sports into people's lives, leading to improved fitness and health, while offering a regional concept intended to foster a market in winter sports for over 300 million people in China.
After the presentation in Lausanne, the IOC will vote for the host city in July 31 during the committee's 128th session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Out of the 101 members entitled to vote in the ballot, around 85 will be present in Lausanne this week, Xinhua reported.
