And Then There Were Two: Oslo Pulls Out of '22 Winter Olympic Bid, Leaving Beijing vs Almaty
It's a two-city slalom now: on Wednesday, Oslo, Norway, officially dropped out of competition to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, due to concerns over cost and the majority of Norwegians opposing the bid. That leaves only Almaty, Kazakhstan, and our favorite city, Beijing, still pushing to host the Games.
What was once a six-city competition is now down to a choice between two Asian hosts, eliminating concerns that both Almaty and Beijing were at a disadvantage because the 2018 Winter Games will also be held in Asia, in Pyeongchong, South Korea (not to be confused with Pyongyang, North Korea). We called it here first back in February when it was still a six-horse race: Beijing's winning this bid when it is awarded next summer.
In November, 2013, the Chinese Olympic Committee officially threw Beijing's hat in the ring, along with nearby city Zhangjiakou, to host the 2022 winter games. After the highly successful 2008 Games, a bid for the Winter Olympics seemed obvious. Harbin appeared like a more likely potential venue, but only Beijing and Zhangjiakou applied for the honor domestically, and given their proximity, were given the award jointly.
Beijing would host most of the indoor ice events within the city limits, while more moutainous Zhangjiakou would handle snow sports like skiing.
Hebei province's Zhangjiakou is 200 kilometers northwest of the capital. In either the biggest coincidence ever or a foreshadowing of Tuesday's bid, the govenrnment announced it would build an express train line between the two cities.
"The 2008 Olympics has left many legacies to Beijing, which includes experience and sufficient infrastructure," Beijing Sports Bureau chief Li Yingchuan told the Xinhua News Agency.
Beijing isn't being encumbered by nonsense formalities like not having officially being awarded the Games yet, and has already signed up sponsors for the Games including WeChat owner Tencent, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), and Snow Beer. An official website for the bid was launched in August.
Olso received litte public support for its bid from its citizens. After Sochi blew an estimated $51 billion hosting the last winter games, many are saying that the price to host the games is just not worth it anymore. As Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports scathingly wrote in an article yesterday: "So China or Kazakhstan it is, the last two suckers on earth willing to step up to this carnival barker. One lucky nation will win. The other will host the 2022 Winter Olympics."
The International Olympic Committee will announce its final decision in July, 2015.
Photos: Wikipedia
