- Date
- 09 Jun 2015
- Tags
- IOC News , Host City Election
Almaty and Beijing showcase their 2022 Olympic bids to IOC Members - Both cities embrace spirit of Olympic Agenda 2020
Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Beijing (China), the two Candidate Cities bidding to host the Olympic Winter Games in 2022, today officially presented their candidatures to the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Presidents and Secretaries General of the International Olympic Winter Sports Federations gathered at The Olympic Museum in Lausanne.(*)
Both Cities presented during 45 minutes before taking questions from the floor.
Candidate City Briefings were introduced back in 2009 to give cities the possibility to present their Olympic projects to the IOC membership a few weeks before their final presentations to the IOC Session.
Commenting on the morning session, IOC President Thomas Bach said ‘“It was really impressive to see how both Cities had embraced the reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020 just six months after the recommendations were unanimously approved by the IOC’.
‘You could see a clear focus in both bids on sustainability and affordability. Both presented very well balanced budgets, and both clearly demonstrated what they wanted to achieve, following Olympic Agenda 2020, by building their proposals into the long-term development plans of their city, region and country.
Both cities had different approaches and are starting from different points: Almaty plans to develop a traditional winter sports centre, and leave the lasting legacy of transforming the region.
On the other hand, Beijing showed excellent use of the 2008 legacy, and also plans to create a sporting legacy by giving more than 300 million Chinese access to winter sports.
It was an excellent session this morning with many questions from the IOC members and from the International Federations. Both delegations appreciated this very much.’, concluded President Bach.
Today’s meeting comes just a week after the release of the report by the Evaluation Commission which clearly highlighted the opportunities and challenges associated with hosting the Olympic Winter Games in 2022 in both candidate cities.
The IOC Evaluation Commission for the Olympic Winter Games 2022, chaired by IOC Member in Russia Alexander Zhukov, is due to report to IOC members and the Presidents and Secretaries General of the International Olympic Winter Federations this afternoon. It is the first time that the Evaluation Commission will report in such a forum and answer question from the audience. This follows one of the recommendations of Olympic Agenda relating to the bidding process.
The IOC has already informed the Candidate Cities that the 2022 host city can anticipate a contribution from the IOC to the success of the Games of an overall estimated value of USD 880 million.
The host city for the Olympic Winter Games 2022 will be elected at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur following a final presentation by the cities to the full IOC membership on 31 July.
* Cities are listed in the order of drawing of lots.