The world’s most populous nation against a new kid on the block. A global capital that hosted an Olympics just a few years ago against a city which many people may not be able to find on a map. A Chinese region with few big mountains and little natural snow against a former Soviet winter sports resort surrounded by towering peaks and plenty of real snow.
Such is the study in contrasts between the two contenders for the 2022 Winter Games: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The International Olympic Committee will be faced with two starkly different choices when it selects the host city on Friday (July 31) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, culminating a race that began with six candidates but wound up with just two after a series of withdrawals.
While Beijing has been seen as the big favorite, Almaty impressed IOC members at a presentation in Switzerland in June and the contest is now considered closer than many had expected.
“A lot of the members were pretty agreeably surprised to see there were now two candidates in the race,” Canadian member Dick Pound told The Associated Press.