Beijing has won the battle to host the 2022 Winter Olympics after Chinese president Xi Jinping made a last-minute vow to lay on a “fantastic, extraordinary and excellent” event.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) delegates handed the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic events to Beijing on Friday afternoon following a secret ballot in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Earlier, president Xi Jinping threw his weight behind China's bid, promising the "strongest support" for the Beijing Games in a one-minute video address to the IOC delegates.
A Beijing Olympics would “boost exchanges and mutual understanding between the Chinese and other civilisations of the world,” Xi said.
"The Chinese people are looking forward to this opportunity. Let me assure you that if you choose Beijing the Chinese people will present to the world a fantastic, extraordinary and excellent Olympic Winter Games in Beijing," Xi added.
Beijing’s mayor Wang Anshun vowed to deliver “Games that are joyful and harmonious, Games that are safe and reliable”.
“This is a breathtaking moment,” said Zhang Haidi, the vice president of Beijing’s Bid Committee.
The 2022 Beijing Winter Games will in fact be split between three Olympic sites: one in the city of Zhangjiakou, 125 miles from Beijing in Hebei province, another in Yanqing, a mountainous region to Beijing's northwest, and a third in China's sprawling capital itself.
A key component of Beijing’s winning bid was its pledge to tackle the toxic air pollution that often enshrouds the capital.
Beijing’s mayor told IOC delegates huge steps had been taken since his city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, with one million high-emissions vehicles forced from its roads. “All our efforts are moving Beijing towards a clean energy future,” Wang Anshun said.
Lack of snow
Chinese officials have also dismissed concerns over a dearth of natural snowfall in the region around Beijing. Almaty’s campaign slogan – “Keeping it real” – was a not-so-subtle swipe at China’s promise to compensate with artificial snow. “Real snow, real winter ambience, real winter games,” boasted a promotional video for Almaty 2022.
But Liu Peng, the president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, batted away Kazakhstan's provocations.
“Ski resorts have been operating in Zhangjiakou for decades,” he said on Friday. “Beijing 2022 will build on its existing snow-making capability to supplement natural snow fall.”
Nor was the lack of a winter sports culture in China an issue. Chinese officials have said they hope the Beijing Winter Olympics will ignite “a winter sports passion” that will help create a £535 million industry in China by 2025.
“Winter sports fever is sweeping our nation,” claimed Liu, adding that more than one million Chinese teenagers were now ice skating regularly. “Twenty years ago China had less than 10 ski resorts. We now have more than 500.”
Crisis
In 2001, Beijing’s selection as the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics sparked an international outcry amid criticism of China’s human rights record. In the runup to Friday’s vote activists had again called on the IOC to reject Beijing’s bid in response to a “human rights crisis” they believe is underway in China.
Amnesty International says that at least 231 people have been detained or questioned in recent weeks as part of what campaigners, diplomats and observers describe as an unprecedented crackdown on human rights lawyers.
But Jin Shan, a sports commentator, said the victory would give “a huge boost” to China’s attempts to build a 5 trillion yuan (£516bn) sports industry and would create millions of jobs. Beijing’s triumph would also prove a tonic for ambitious plans to create “Jing-jin-ji”, a 130 million-population megacity around the Chinese capital, Jin added. There was no risk Olympic facilities would be become “white elephants” after the event was over. “I live close to the Birds’ Nest stadium and the Water Cube [National Aquatics Center] and see many people visiting both venues everyday,” he said. “We have a huge population and there will be great demand for these sports venues after the Games.”
Beijing’s mayor Wang Anshun claimed 92% of the country supported the 2022 Olympic campaign. Yet many Chinese have reacted with indifference. “Don’t waste tax-payers money,” one user of Weibo, China’s Twitter, wrote on Friday. “Is the country’s reputation more important than improving people’s lives?”
Additional reporting by Luna Lin.
– Guardian Service
