The new front-runner to host the 2022 Winter Olympics does not "have a long winter sports tradition," according to Justin Bergman of the AP. But what increasingly matters in the race for the 2022 Games is money, and China "has plenty of that." Combined with political will and strong public support, Beijing "looks like the strongest bidder left to host an Olympics that few other cities seem to want." A year ago, Beijing "was considered a long shot to land the 2022 Games, particularly with other Asian countries already lined up to host the next two Olympics." But then "public opposition and financial concerns in Europe began whittling the field of candidates one by one." Suddenly, Beijing "is in a two-city race with Almaty, Kazakhstan, another of the early long-shots." The host city "will be selected next July" at an IOC assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Olympics, "is seeking to become the first city to host both the summer and winter games." The promotional blitz "has already begun." The Beijing bid committee "unveiled a Facebook page and Twitter feed and released a video depicting scenes of victorious Chinese athletes at previous Winter Games and an animation of a planned high-speed rail line that will connect venues in the city with those in the mountains in just 50 minutes." The Beijing bid committee wrote in an editorial republished on Chinese sports websites, "We have strong political support, economic strength, the public support of hundreds of millions and a stable domestic situation." The Winter Olympics should have snow, and "this is one of the major challenges for the mountains northwest of Beijing, where Alpine skiing events would be held, and the mountains near the city of Zhangjiakou, the proposed site for Nordic skiing." Fabio Ries, the Italian co-founder of the Duolemeidi Mountain Resort, which opened near Zhangjiakou in '06, said that "none of the ski resorts in the area could operate without man-made snow, but this presents another problem: a severe water shortage in northern China that ski resorts have been blamed for exacerbating." Another concern "is Beijing's notorious air pollution." The Beijing bid committee "played down the concerns," blaming foreigners for creating the mocking nickname "gray Beijing." Li Sheng, founder and CEO of SECA Worldwide, a Shanghai-based sports marketing company that has worked with the Chinese Olympic Committee and Chinese Winter Sports Federation, said, "I think 2022 will definitely help change a generation by promoting winter sports in a way that only a Winter Olympics can. The big challenge is how to embrace that opportunity" (AP, 11/4).
