OLYMPICS-BEIJING/IOC NEWSER Beijing holds closing ceremony for Winter Olympics bid inspection team

Record ID: 332408

  • Title: OLYMPICS-BEIJING/IOC NEWSER Beijing holds closing ceremony for Winter Olympics bid inspection team
  • Date: 28th March 2015
  • Summary: ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MEETING IN SESSION
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA28EVLJLK4KR6FVU71UJJNKD36
  • Story Text: Beijing's Winter Olympics 2022 bid committee held a closing ceremony for the visiting International Olympic Committee (IOC) inspection team on Saturday (March 28) after their five-day tour of the capital and would-be co-host Zhangjiakou city in nearby Hebei province.
    Beijing is the final of just two potential destinations the IOC will visit, after making a trip to Almaty in Kazakhstan earlier in the year. Other would-be host Oslo withdrew their bid, citing cost concerns.
    Chairman of the IOC evaluation commission, Alexander Zhukov, said IOC members could see the positive legacy of Beijing's 2008 Olympic games during their inspection.
    "From this visit, we can see that your games in 2008 has left a profound legacy. We can see this legacy in the venues just outside this hotel and in our plans to use, in your plans to use, many of those venues in 2022," said Zhukov.
    Beijing Party Secretary Guo Jinlong said he had "confidence" China would bring forth a new contribution to the Olympics by hosting the 2022 games.
    "We have the confidence, the ability and the hope we can make a new contribution to the Olympics. Ladies and gentlemen, the inspection was short and unforgettable. You brought us very meaningful help, and brought forth progress for deep cooperation between us and the IOC," said Guo.
    IOC members and the hosting Chinese Olympic Committee exchanged gifts before the ceremony ended with a performance by a local children's choir.
    Though Beijing already has one Olympics under its belt, questions over pollution hang over the bid.
    Overall it scored the weakest among the initial three candidate cities on environmental impact.
    Organisers implemented drastic measures to bring blue skies and easy breathing for athletes during the 2008 Beijing summer Games, ordering 60 percent of the city's cars off the road and last-minute industrial cut-backs.
    With a roughly US40 billion price tag, at the time that competition was the most costly ever staged.
    Officials this time round are promising a more spartan affair, focusing on the legacy the games will have for the local area.
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