2022 Olympics Awarded To Beijing

Beijing has been announced as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, becoming the first city to host both the summer and winter games in the modern era, following the final vote by International Olympic Committee (IOC) members at Kuala Lumpur.

The Chinese capital beat Kazakhstan’s Almaty, despite concerns over the amount of snow Beijing will have during the games.

IOC president Thomas Bach praised both bids ahead of the announcement. The vote between the two cities was closer than expected, with Beijing gaining 44 votes to Almaty’s 40.

In a statement from the IOC the committee said: “Beijing aims to use the Games to accelerate the development of a new sport, culture and tourism area, and to encourage interest in winter sports in a region that is home to more than 300 million people in northern China.”

The decision to go with China means that East Asia will now host three successive Olympics as South Korea’s Pyeongchang hosts the 2018 Winter Games and the 2020 Summer Olympics heads to Tokyo. 

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