Published on : 31/07/2024
On July 31, 2015, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, announced that Beijing was selected as the host city of the 24th Winter Olympic Games in 2022.
In the secret ballot attended by members of the IOC, Beijing received 44 votes, and its sole competitor, Almaty, Kazakhstan, received 40 votes. With its successful bid, Beijing created history by becoming the first "Dual Olympic City" (雙奧之城) - a city that has hosted both hosted the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
Beijing co-hosted the Winter Olympics with Zhangjiakou City, Hebei, under the three principles of "athlete-centred, sustainable development, and frugal competition". The bid report mentioned a specific financial budget, with the event budget being approximately $1.56 billion and the construction budget for competition and non-competition venues was around $1.51 billion.
Beijing and Zhangjiakou jointly bid for the Winter Olympics and dispatched a strong statement team to achieve their goals.
With Deputy Prime Minister Liu Yandong (劉延東) leading the team, the speakers included Liu Peng, director of the National Sports Bureau, Mayor Wang Anshun of Beijing, Mayor Hou Liang of Zhangjiakou, as well as world badminton champion Li Lingwei, Winter Olympic short track speed skating champion Yang Yang, freestyle skiing aerials world champion and image ambassador Li Nina, and famous basketball player Yao Ming.
