Beijing has been selected to host the Winter Olympics in 2022 – becoming the first city to host both the summer and winter games.

The Chinese capital was selected ahead of a rival bid from Kazakhstan’s Almaty.

Beijing and Almaty were considered outsiders when the 2022 bid race opened two years ago.

However, European cities pulled out for political or financial reasons with doubts growing over the costs of staging such events.
Stockholm in Sweden, Norway’s Oslo, Lviv in Ukraine and Poland’s Kraków all dropped out of the running in the earlier stages.

The Chinese bid narrowly beat Almaty by 44 votes to 40 at an event in Kuala Lumpur earlier.

The secret ballot held by 85 International Olympic Committee members was conducted twice, first electronically and then by paper, after it was discovered the electronic system had malfunctioned.

The 2022 Winter Games will be divided between the capital and the city of Zhangjiakou.

The second city is 118 miles north-west of Beijing and will host the snow events.

Beijing aims to use the Games to accelerate the development of a new sport, culture and tourism area, and to encourage interest in winter sports in a region that is home to more than 300 million people in northern China.

Although the bid process for 2022 began before the approval of Olympic Agenda 2020, the reforms have already had a significant impact on Beijing’s Olympic plans.
Olympic Agenda 2020 calls for a stronger focus on sustainability, legacy, and transparency, while making it easier for host cities to tailor Games that meet their needs rather than trying to fit a template.

Beijing took advantage of the flexibility provided by Olympic Agenda 2020 to improve its plans for the Games and reduce costs.

The city will rely heavily on existing venues, including those built for the Games in 2008, such as the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium.

Beijing’s proposed budget for investment in Olympic villages, sports venues and other infrastructure totals US$1.5 billion – significantly less than for Olympic Games in the past.

The proposed operational budget should be fully offset by revenue from ticket sales, marketing sponsorships and other income.

Thanks to an additional contribution from the IOC of approximately US$880 million to support the staging of the Olympic Winter Games in 2022, Beijing is confident that it will either break even or make a profit.

In addition, post-Games legacy uses for all permanent venues have already been identified to ensure that Games-related investments deliver benefits for years to come.