‘Artificial’ Beijing up against a city keeping it real ...
Print Edition
BEIJING or Almaty — the International Olympic Committee is faced with two starkly different choices when it selects the host city for the 2022 Winter Games on Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the culmination of a race that began with six candidates but wound up with just two after a series of withdrawals.
While Beijing was seen as the big favorite, Kazakhstan’s Almaty impressed IOC members at a presentation in Switzerland in June and the contest is now considered closer than many had expected.
“A lot of the members were pretty agreeably surprised to see there were now two candidates in the race,” Canadian member Dick Pound told reporters.
However, Beijing remains the city to beat.
“There is no question the Chinese are still the favorites,” Gian-Franco Kasper, a veteran IOC member from Switzerland who is president of the international ski federation, said. “It is an open race, but in principle most people believe the Chinese automatically are the favorites.”
“Why?” said Kasper, who also heads the association of winter Olympic sports bodies. “You know. China.”
A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine the Olympic vote would come down to Beijing and Almaty, neither of which are known for hosting major winter sports events. But they were the only ones left after four European cities — including Oslo and Stockholm — pulled out for political or financial reasons.
Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Olympics and is seeking to become the first city to host both summer and winter games, is viewed by many IOC members as the safe choice, one that can be relied upon because of China’s experience, manpower and political will.
Almaty is a lesser-known quantity, but one that offers a Winter Games setting and atmosphere along with a compact layout.
“I think we know if we go to Beijing, it will be a success,” Norwegian IOC member Gerhard Heiberg said.
“On the other hand, Almaty is a winter sports country where we know that we have snow and ice and everything needed,” Heiberg added.
Strong selling point
Beijing says the games would help develop a winter sports market for more than 300 million people in northern China — a strong selling point for the IOC’s commercial interests.
Almaty scored points with its presentation in Lausanne that showed images of deep, natural snow. Almaty’s slogan — “Keeping it Real” — is a not-so-subtle dig at China’s reliance on man-made snow.
Beijing insists it has sufficient water supplies for snow-making and can provide excellent conditions for ski competitions.
“It can be done with artificial snow, there is no question,” Kasper said. “In cross-country, both (natural and artificial snow) are possible. In ski jumping, it doesn’t make any difference. In Alpine skiing, if you look at our World Cup races, we ski more or less 100 percent on artificial snow, because the snow is more compact.”
Almaty says 70 percent of its facilities are already in place and all venues are within a 30 kilometer radius. Beijing plays up its use of venues from the 2008 Olympics, including the “Bird’s Nest” and “Water Cube.”
With the majority of IOC members not from winter sports countries, Friday’s vote will be influenced by geopolitics, sentiment and other factors.
“We vote with our hearts,” Heiberg said, “not our heads.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
