The host of the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games has been determined. Beijing was honored with this honor at the 128th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Kuala Lumpur. The Chinese capital will be the first city to host winter ones after the Summer Games. Such in Olympic history has not yet been. In a head-on collision, Beijing defeated another candidate, Kazakhstan's Alma-Ata. 44 IOC members voted for the capital of China, 40 for the Kazakh city.

Beijing was initially considered the favorite in the Olympic race. The Chinese organizers emphasized the rich experience they gained during the 2008 Summer Games and the rich infrastructure left after them. They planned to use most of these objects in one way or another. For example, the famous National Stadium, better known as the Bird's Nest, is to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics. Three clusters are planned to be used for the Games-2022 competitions: central Beijing (opening ceremony, figure skating, short track, ice hockey, curling, speed skating), Beijing Yanqing County ( skiing, bobsleigh, luge, skeleton) and Zhangjiakou City ( ski race, ski jumping, biathlon, freestyle, snowboarding).

China became the 15th country in history to receive the right to host Olympic Games more than once and by the 9th state, which decided to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. In addition, Beijing has become only the second capital of the state (after Oslo) to host the Winter Olympics. The fact is that strict requirements for alpine skiing disciplines force all the White Games to be held near the mountains. A ski resorts in the world, in principle, there are not too many located in the immediate vicinity of the capitals.

From the point of view of supporters of Beijing's application, the relative remoteness of the Chinese capital from the mountains with modern transport possibilities is not such a disadvantage. In addition, the environmental aspect was considered a big disadvantage of the Chinese application - the air condition in the 20 million megalopolis caused great criticism even during the 2008 Games. But he apparently did not embarrass the members of the IOC. As well as the fact that the International Olympic Committee, apparently, will again have to resolve numerous problems caused by the rejection of the Chinese political system in the Western world. However, in Kazakhstan there would probably be no fewer such nuances.

“Both applications demonstrated adherence to Olympic values, which they reaffirmed today during their presentations,” TASS quotes the words of Alexander Zhukov, head of the Russian Olympic Committee and head of the IOC evaluation commission for choosing the venue for the 2022 Olympics. “Both cities want to leave a positive legacy for many years to come. The candidates earned the gratitude of the millions they represented.

RUSSIAN INTEREST

The victory of Alma-Ata, of course, was more profitable for Russia than the triumph of the Chinese bid. First, a three-hour time difference with Moscow (versus a five-hour time difference for Beijing) would provide us with higher ratings of live TV broadcasts. In addition, there were more options for preparing our team for the 2022 Games. Now it makes sense for us to think about creating more or less permanent training bases in the Far East, which could be used in preparation for three Olympics at once - winter 2018 and 2022 and summer 2020.

Secondly, culturally, Kazakhstan is certainly closer to Russia than China. This would provide Russian specialists, including those with experience in the Sochi-2014 project, more chances to participate in preparations for the 2022 Olympics. Although some of them will certainly come in handy in the Beijing project. Generally new Olympic victory China has an important geopolitical aspect that illustrates the process of the country's emergence as a superpower taking place before our very eyes.

Another important nuance associated with Beijing's victory. China is currently difficult to classify as a leader winter sports... However, the Chinese in recent times progressed strongly in this direction. In Vancouver 2010, they hit the top ten for the first time in history. medal standings... True, in Sochi-2014, China somewhat surrendered its positions, but it was more of an unfortunate accident - there are more and more competitive Chinese in winter sports from year to year. The country obviously has both money and human resources for this.

The Chinese, no less than the Russians, love to successfully compete at home competitions. And this means that after winning the competition for the right to host the 2022 Olympics, a country that recently made a breakthrough into the cohort of world leaders in summer disciplines may try to do the same in winter ones. It is difficult to imagine competitive Chinese skiers or bobsledders yet. But, in the end, a quarter of a century ago, no one and in delirium could dream that the representatives of this country could win Olympic medals v athletics swimming or fencing. However, now it is a fact.

The possible expansion of China could have far-reaching implications for the world's winter sports. In the year of celebrating the centenary of its Chinese Communist Party, the country's national team may go to the bone to make it to the top three medals in the home Games.

REFUSALS

The battle for the 2022 Games has been marred by an unprecedented string of declines from candidates. At first, more than 15 cities showed interest in the Winter Olympics; after preliminary negotiations with the IOC, the number of serious applicants dropped to eight. But then candidates started dropping out of the race at an unimaginable rate. The Swiss St. Moritz, the German Munich, the Polish Krakow, the Swedish Stockholm, the Ukrainian Lvov and the Norwegian Oslo, one after another, recused themselves. Moreover, the last four cities managed to submit an official application to the IOC, having spent considerable money on its registration.

Olympic projects in St. Moritz, Munich and Krakow had to be scrapped after they were not supported in local referendums, which are becoming a real nightmare for those wishing to host the Games. Generally, the IOC rules do not require the mandatory approval of the Games at a referendum in a city claiming the Olympics. For example, there was no such vote in Sochi. However, the application must include the results of public opinion polls. And all other things being equal, preference is given to those candidates who enjoy the greatest support in their city. Or when the organizing committee of the Games, without attracting the attention of the IOC, manages to neutralize the protest moods of the local population.

It cannot be said that there were no opponents of the 2022 Winter Games in China and Kazakhstan, but the peculiarities of the political regimes of these countries allowed Alma-Ata and Beijing to bring their applications to a logical final - voting at the IOC session. The choice of two Asian candidates, despite the fact that the Games of 2018 and 2020 have also already been given to Asia, was hardly very pleased with the International Olympic Committee, who until recently professed the principle of "alternation of continents". But Thomas Bach and Co. had nowhere to go. For the first time since the early 1980s - since the Cold War - the IOC had to choose from two candidates. Although in the current economic and political situation, everything could be even worse.

The crisis with applications for the 2022 Games was one of the reasons that forced the new leadership of the IOC to adopt a reform package that significantly reduces the financial burden on the organizers of the Olympics. In addition, the organizing committees received the long-awaited "carrot" - the opportunity to propose additional disciplines for inclusion in the official program of the Games. For the first time, such an experiment will be held in Tokyo 2020 for the Summer Olympics, and in Beijing 2022 for the Winter Olympics. Most likely, the Chinese will lobby for speed skating and acrobatic disciplines, and this does not bode well for us.

Both candidates who remained in the cage had quite a few shortcomings, and they would hardly have been favorites in the confrontation, for example, with Oslo or Munich. In the vicinity of Beijing, Zhangjiakou resort, suitable for a mountain cluster, was found as much as 200 km - skiers had never been so far away from the capital of the Olympics. The construction of a high-speed highway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou threatens to result in a cosmic sum. Therefore, by a special IOC decree, the costs of non-sports infrastructure were urgently excluded from the list of Olympic investments. This explains the relatively small numbers indicated in the applications of Beijing ($ 1.5 billion) and Almaty (1.8 billion). Although the example of Sochi shows that in settlements that were not previously centers of winter sports, no less than 20 billion are needed to prepare and host the games.

The capital of the XXIV Olympic winter games in 2022 will be Beijing. The Chinese capital won the vote of the members of the International Olympic Committee at the session in Kuala Lumpur. The only competitor, Kazakhstani Alma-Ata, lost four votes.

Beijing will be the first city in history to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The main starts for athletes who are not friendly with ice and snow have already taken place in the "Northern Capital" in 2008. 14 years later, the Olympic flame will once again be in China's second largest city.

The current elections for the Olympic capital turned out to be extremely boring. For the second time in the 21st century, only two applications reached the final elections. The last such case was associated with the 2006 Olympics, when the Italian Turin and the Swiss Sion came together in a dispute. Since then, at least three cities have always claimed the White Olympics.

But a year ago, there were much more participants among the official applicants. Six cities could have reached Malaysia, but for various reasons they refused to continue the struggle.

First from Olympic dream refused Polish Krakow, which planned to host the competition together with Zakopane and the Slovak village of Jasna - if successful, it could be the first Olympics in different countries... But the inhabitants of Krakow in a local referendum abandoned the plans of the authorities. Almost 70% of residents then said "no" to the Games.

The next starred was Lvov. I also talked about plans to make Western Ukraine one of the centers of winter tourism.

However, the ensuing crisis deprived the country of any chance of hosting the Olympics. Then thoughts were expressed that Lvov could compete for next Games in 2026, but since then nothing has been known about these plans.

Among the competitors of Beijing and Almaty are quite serious applications from Oslo and Stockholm - the capitals of traditionally strong winter sports powers, which have all the infrastructure already ready for a long time. Their shares were boosted by the fact that Scandinavia has not hosted the Olympics since 1994, and Asia already won the Games in 2018 thanks to Korean Pyeongchang. However, neither Norway nor Sweden received support for the Olympic plans from political elites, and both cities were forced to follow the lead of Krakow and Lvov.

So, only two cities remained among the contenders, for which large winter sports competitions are a real exotic. Alma-Ata can boast that it hosted winter Asian Games, which cannot be compared with the real Olympics. Beijing has hosted the World Short Track Speed ​​Skating Championships and the World Curling Forum only twice. Top-level competitions in hockey, biathlon, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, snowboarding, bobsleigh and luge have never been heard either in Kazakhstan or in China.

Nevertheless, both cities turned out to be the only contenders for the Olympics, promising that all sports objects will be built, and in the vicinity there will be suitable tracks and slopes that are not inferior in quality to European ones.

Actually, in Beijing all the closed arenas are already ready - for the needs of the Olympics, the stadiums built for Summer Games... Where basketball and handball matches were held, now hockey players will fight, volleyball players will be squeezed by figure skaters, and curlers' screams will be heard where splashes of water were heard from jumping from a springboard.

Perhaps it was the story of the conversion of summer arenas into winter ones, as well as the usual large-scale approach of the Chinese to organizing competitions, that charmed the members of the IOC. In a single round of voting, Beijing received 44 votes against 40 for Almaty. New Olympics after Sochi in the post-Soviet space will not be.

Other news, materials and statistics can be viewed at winter species sports.

Holding the Olympics on its territory is not only a great honor for any state, but also a major expense. That is why, before you apply for the organization of the main sporting events the world, you should objectively evaluate your own resources. It is necessary to understand whether the state and a particular city will cope with the abundance of legal and monetary difficulties by a certain time.

How is the city chosen for the Olympics?

To hold the 2022 Olympics on their territory, states submitted applications indicating the city (sometimes several cities), as well as information about it. The presentation booklet provided the following basic information:

• Geography.
• Climate and natural conditions.
• Infrastructure.
• Opportunities and advantages of the city.
• Potential opportunities.

The political situation in the city and country is also very important. On the territory of a state mired in popular unrest, the Olympic Games will not be held.

City selection criteria

For a city to become a venue, you need the following:

• The name should be well known to the international community. A place for such a significant event is not necessarily the capital, it can be any major city in the state.
• Suitable climatic conditions.
• The presence of a developed infrastructure.
• Availability of the necessary sports facilities.

Since the application is submitted in advance, the state has the opportunity and time, if approved, to complete all the necessary Olympic facilities. So, the future Olympic capital will have to build an Olympic village on its territory.

The place where the Olympics will be held

To determine the venue for the 2022 Olympics, all interested countries have applied. And we present the stages of the voting in the table.

Despite the seeming simplicity, the selection procedure is very difficult, since many candidate countries are worthy to host guests from all over the world and donate the sports world a grand affair.

Nowadays it is already known where the Olympics will be held 2022. Beijing, the capital of China, is the winner, honored to host the global sports community. It was this amazingly beautiful city that managed to bypass Kazakhstan's Almaty in the voting and win in a difficult struggle.

Olympic capital elections

To determine the capital of the 2022 Winter Olympics, a session of the IOC was held (this is how the International Olympic Committee is abbreviated). And the place of the secret ballot in 2015 was the Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur. A total of 85 people took part in choosing a city for the 2022 Olympics.

Initially, 4 more states wanted to join the fight:

• Norway (Oslo);
• Sweden (Stockholm);
• Ukraine Lviv).

But they all voluntarily withdrew their candidacies, motivated by political or financial difficulties.

• Beijing - 44 votes.
• Almaty - 40 votes.
• Not counted - 1 vote.

The Kazakhstani city lacked only a few votes to win the difficult victory. Interestingly, Beijing's bid for participation was actively supported by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who even addressed the IOC members with a short speech.

It is also known that this IOC session determined the future capital of the 2020 Summer Olympics - it will be the Swiss city of Lausanne.

Where will the 2022 Olympics be?

Beijing has been selected as the capital of the Winter Olympics. Therefore, the competition will be held in three zones:

• In Beijing itself.
• In the mountainous county of Yanqing, located near the city.
• 150 km from the Chinese capital, in the Hebei province, the city of Zhangjiakou.

The twenty-fourth Winter Olympics, as well as the twenty-third, will be held in Asia.

Interestingly, for the first time in history, both summer and winter events will be held in the capital of China. Olympic competition... In 2008, the Summer Olympics were held in Beijing.

Evaluation of elections

The situation when only two cities reached the second stage of voting is rather unusual for the Winter Olympics, as a rule there are at least three candidates. Only in 2006 did two cities reach the home stretch - Turin (Italy), which eventually won, and Sion (Switzerland).

Initially, there were 6 worthy candidates for the 2022 Olympics, but four of them were forced to withdraw from the struggle. We will present the reasons for this in the table.

Town	Reason for refusing to vote
Krakow	The authorities' plans to host the Olympics did not coincide with the wishes of the residents. As a result, at the referendum, more than 60% of citizens expressed their negative opinion, and the application was withdrawn.
Lviv	The crisis and difficult political situation in the country deprived Ukraine of the opportunity to become a center of winter tourism and hold such a significant event on its territory.
Stockholm and Oslo	Serious applicants with developed infrastructure, ideal cities for winter competitions, were forced to withdraw their candidacies due to the government's refusal to provide financial guarantees.

Beijing's victory was considered by many to be predictable, since Olympic facilities had already been erected on the territory of the Chinese capital, which would be enough to re-equip for winter competitions, and not build from scratch, as would have been necessary if Kazakhstan won.

Therefore, the world looks forward to 2022, when we can see how well China has coped with the difficult task entrusted to it.

World sporting event - winter Olympics The year 2022 is already a subject of heated discussion today. Main question, which so worries many inhabitants of the planet: "Where is this grandiose action going to take place and what plans does the winner of the vote have?"

Olympic Games 2022

The 2022 Olympics will be the twenty-fourth in the history of the winter ones. It will take place from February 4 to February 20, 2022. The question of where it is best to hold it was discussed for a long time.

Candidates for the 2022 Olympics

In 2012, the IOC announced the start of accepting applications for candidates to host the 2022 Olympics. One of the first to declare a desire to host the Winter Olympic Games was the capital of Kazakhstan. The city of Almaty had previously applied to host the 2014 Olympics, then there were seven applicants, but the Kazakh metropolis dropped out of the competition even before the final, and the Russian city of Sochi won and successfully hosted the Olympic Games. The capital of China also applied to host the Olympics a little later.

In addition to Beijing and Almaty, they nominated themselves, but later withdrew from the vote:

So, if the 2022 Olympics will be held in Beijing, then the capital of the PRC has its own prospects and advantages:

• improved urban infrastructure;
• 6 ready-made and 3 under construction sports facilities;
• the presence of a high-speed railway line that connects the competition areas;
• according to the plan they will be located close to each other;
• Beijing is going to further develop an ecological way of constructing facilities and sports facilities;
• the existence of many sports and residential facilities to accommodate all participants and fans;
• experience in holding the 2008 Olympics.

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics: Existing Risks

Along with many advantages, there are also significant disadvantages and risks that cannot be eliminated:

• use of artificial snow cover;
• ski jumping according to the plan will take place in the Zhangzyakou zone, and for this to happen, about 400 residents of the city need to be resettled;
• the problem of air pollution is gaining importance in the region;
• providing snow cover will require a significant intake of water resources from reservoirs;
• sports facilities in the Yanqin zone will be located next to the national nature reserve.

FIGHT FOR EQUALITY

So, late on Wednesday evening, the IOC Executive Board approved, according to the organization's press service, the "innovative" program of the 2022 White Olympics. Its innovation lies in the fact that the largest number of women in history will take part in the tournament, while the total number of athletes will even be reduced - it will be less than the maximum quota established by the Olympic Charter.

These changes reflect our commitment to making the Olympic Games more youth-friendly and gender-balanced. sports director IOC Keith McConnell. - I am very pleased with the upcoming increase in the number of participants, especially in new types of programs.

Indeed, gender equality is an important part of the so-called Olympic Agenda 2020, and over the past years, the IOC has purposefully increased, for example, the number of mixed programs. In Beijing 2022, the proportion of women in the total number of participants will increase from 41 to 45.4 percent, or 1,314 people in a record 46 types of the program. As you can see, the ideal 50/50 ratio has not yet been reached, but it is getting closer.

According to the IOC, gender equality in 2022 will come in speed skating(including short track), skeleton, alpine skiing, freestyle, cross-country skiing and snowboarding, which will put them on a par with disciplines such as biathlon and curling. And in bobsleigh, hockey, luge and ski jumping, the number of women will be increased.

It is especially emphasized that as a result of the changes, the total number of athletes who will come to the Games will be reduced by a little over four dozen people and will amount to 2,892 athletes. And for new types of programs, it will not be necessary to build new arenas or even modify the old ones.

THE GREAT SEVEN

So what exactly are the changes? First of all, seven new types of programs have been introduced into the Games program, while the number of sports remains the same. Two sets of medals are added for women, one for men and four more for mixed. The changes will affect the following disciplines:

Bobsleigh, where the competition for women singles (monobob) is introduced. By the way, international federation insisted on female fours, but the case in favor of the monobob was decided by the relative cheapness and simplicity in comparison with the competitor;

Ski jumping, where the mixed team tournament will be held;

Snowboard, where a mixed team tournament is introduced in boardcross;

Short track, where the mixed relay will take place;

The biggest changes are coming in freestyle, where three sets of awards will be added at once - a men's and women's big air tournament and a mixed team acrobatics tournament.

At the same time, it is also curious which species also claimed to be included in the Games program, but were left out. For example, women's ski nordic event - this discipline remains the only one at the Winter Olympics, where only men are represented. All six proposals of the federation remained unclaimed tobogganing- female deuce, sprint competitions for men, women and in pairs, as well as male and female naturbans.

Telemark failed to win a place at the Olympics - a discipline that combines elements of cross-country skiing and alpine skiing. Also, proposals to introduce a mixed team tournament in parallel slalom for alpine skiers and a single-mixed biathlon relay into the program of competitions were not successful. To our regret, the IOC refused to return parallel slalom to the snowboard tournament - the Russians in this form in last years were traditionally strong.

Also, there will be no synchronized tournament at the Beijing Games. figure skating- when there are 8 to 20 people on the ice at the same time, as well as team competition in bobsled.

MINUS 41

But that is not all. The IOC also changed the number of quotas, and in those sports that were not affected by the changes in the program. So, let's see:

Biathlon (-20 athletes);

Curling (+4 athletes by increasing the teams in the double-mixed tournament by 2);

Speed ​​skating (-26 athletes and achieving gender equality);

Luge (-4 athletes, with 5 more male quotas being transferred to women alone to achieve gender equality);

Skeleton (12 male quotas are given to women to achieve gender equality);

Hockey (+46 athletes by increasing the teams in the women's tournament by 2);

Finally, in ski types sports (cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, freestyle and snowboarding) the total number of quotas will be reduced by 41.

Thus, the expansion of the women's hockey tournament into two full teams of 23 players will be compensated mainly by biathletes, skaters and various ski disciplines... Accordingly, the selection principles will be revised.

It is interesting that in biathlon the number of participants in the Games for the last two cycles only grew, and the program expanded. Now enter the single mixed into Olympic program refused, and quotas were cut by two dozen people. At the same time, the same McDonnell assured the Inside portal the games that this has nothing to do with the latest events in the IBU and the removal of Anders Besseberg from the presidency of the organization.

GO RUSSIA

Finally, what kind of future these changes open up Russian sports? For us, perhaps, the main grievances are the refusal to return parallel slalom among snowboarders, as well as the "red light" for the naturban, where Russian sledges have long been in the lead.

From the same that passed into the program of the Games, absolutely not ours types - male and female Big Air in freestyle. These disciplines are included after the success of similar starts with snowboarders in Pyeongchang. But both on the boards and on skis, the Russians in jumps from big springboard until they are too strong.

For example, mixed acrobatics competitions are another matter - within the framework of the World Cup, five starts in this type of program have been held over the past four years, and the representatives of Russia have invariably found themselves on the podium. And individually, both men and girls are strong in our country.

Quite good prospects are seen by the Russians and in mixed relay on short track, which has already been tested at a number of competitions.

This is good news for short track, because the relay is one of the most spectacular disciplines in our sport and at the Olympic Games in general, - quotes the words of the head of the FKSR Alexei Kravtsov "R-Sport". - We have traditionally strong relay teams - both men and women. I think we will have a chance to compete for medals in this event at the Olympics.

Optimistic about the new women's discipline in bobsleigh and the newly elected leader national federation.

I think that the tasks set will be achievable, and the athletes in this form will perform with dignity, - he told the "R-Sport" agency. - The inclusion of an additional sport in the Olympic program is very pleasant for us and for our sport. Moreover, this type will not be very costly, in our federation there are monobobs through which athletes begin training. This is a great help in terms of additional Olympic medals.

On the other hand, we have not had much success in the women's doubles lately, and it is not known whether new female pilots will grow up over the next four years. But there is still time to try.

Some hopes can be pinned on mixed team tournaments in ski jumping and board cross. In these disciplines, we have a foundation, a foundation on which to build a team that claims to be awarded.