Beijing Named Host of 2022 Winter Olympics

Meredith Lepore
·1 min read
OLY-2022-MAS-KAZ-CHN
OLY-2022-MAS-KAZ-CHN

STR/AFP/Getty

It's a history-making day for both the Olympics and Beijing: The Chinese capital has been named as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which will make it the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Games.

It was a close race: The International Olympic Committee voted for Beijing 44 to 40, with one abstention, over contender Almaty in Kazakhstan.

The winning city appealed to the committee with a presentation that highlighted how it would use many of the same venues from its 2008 Summer Olympics and has extensive plans for artificial snow-making operations.

The historic news was celebrated by hundreds of people at the Olympic Green in Beijing. "It's the right time, the perfect time for the Olympics to return to Beijing," Chinese NBA star Yao Ming said in a press conference before the vote.

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