- Title: OLYMPICS-2022/REACTIONS Chinese at IOC pleased with 2022 Winter Olympics
- Date: 31st July 2015
- Summary: IOC MEMBER AND FORMER SPEED SKATER YANG YANG OF CHINA TALKING TO REPORTERS
- Embargoed: 15th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Malaysia
- Country: Malaysia
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6ES9W8MNDL6LG98O2W4QA301U
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: China will present a "great, special and excellent Games to the world" after Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, vice-premier Liu Yandong said in Kuala Lumpur soon after the announcement on Friday (July 31).
Speaking to reporters, Liu thanked the members of International Olympic Committee (IOC) and said China, which hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, will work hard on the 2022 Winter Games.
"Successfully winning the bid is a new beginning for us. We will work hard to build our nation, to become an especially good country, so we can present a great, special and excellent Games to the world," said Liu.
The Chinese capital, the first city to be awarded both the Summer and Winter Olympics, beat Kazakhstan's Almaty in a secret ballot of 85 IOC members held at a convention centre in downtown Kuala Lumpur.
The ballot was conducted twice, first electronically and then by paper after it was discovered that the electronic system had malfunctioned. Beijing won 44-40, with IOC President Thomas Bach abstaining.
The spokesman for the Almaty bid committee, Andrey Kryukov, said they had done their best.
Speaking in English, Andrey Kryukov said: "Our bid is perfect. Again I tell you, our job is finish after the final presentation. Not we decide and the decision had been done by IOC. That's why you can see this is a competition. Somebody win, somebody lose."
Kazakhstan, a former Soviet state, pitched itself as a model for future hosts, embracing all the new reforms with a low-cost bid in a city which already has most of the facilities in place after hosting the 2011 Asian Winter Games.
Ukrainian IOC member and former champion pole vaulter Sergey Bubka said both sides made good presentations.
"Very well, very well. It's really top quality that both cities prepared very well and good delegations, good presentations. No, this is really nice to see such a top quality," said Bubka.
Another IOC member - and former champion speed skater - Yang Yang, said she hoped that holding the games in Beijing would encourage more people to engage in Winter sports.
"It will be a very, very interesting Olympic Games. They (athletes) will use their abilities to show the audiences a great Games. I hope through this more people will start engaging in winter sport. I'm so excited," said Yang.
The decision to go with China again reaffirmed the shifting power-base of world sport, with East Asia now poised to host three successive Olympics.
South Korea's Pyeongchang will host the 2018 Winter Games and Tokyo the 2020 Summer Olympics.
But the choice, while expected, was more a reflection of the economic problems in the rest of the world rather than an overwhelming desire to stick with the same region.
The four European candidates who originally entered the 2022 race all dropped out early, citing concerns about the escalating costs of staging the Olympics. That prompted the IOC to introduce a raft of reforms to cut costs and attract more bidders in the future. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: Video restrictions: parts of this video may require additional clearances. Please see ‘Business Notes’ for more information.