Why does Beijing have the Olympics again?

mm. Okay. The Biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. Given the pr scenes ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity and Xinjiang and other human rights abuses. The athletes on team usa have our full support. We'll be behind them 100% as we cheer them on from home. We will not be contributing to the fanfare of the Games. Us diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the P. R. C. S. Egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang. And we simply can't do that as a diplomatic boycott enough. Given the human rights abuses everybody can call it whatever they want to call it. I would just remind you that often when you use diplomatic boycott that phrase uh that brings people back to 1980 we are not, the athletes will be participating. We will be rooting for the athletes from home. I am an olympics obsessed person so I'm looking forward to doing that. But I think this is just an indication that it cannot be business as usual. That not sending a diplomatic delegation sends that message. That does not mean I think this was your question just to come back to it that we are that is the end of the concerns we will raise about human rights abuses in Xinjiang. We've already taken a number of steps. We've been a leader in the world And leading actions through the G-7 were obviously also working with Congress. But this is just sending a message that, given these human rights abuses, we cannot proceed with business. As usual. Why not pull American athletes from the Olympic? I don't think that uh, we felt it was uh it was the right step to penalize athletes who have been training preparing for this moment, and we felt that we could send a clear message by uh, by not sending a an official U. S. Delegation.

The Beijing Winter Olympics open in just under two months and are now the target of a diplomatic boycott by the United States, with others likely to follow.So how did Beijing land the Winter Olympics, so soon after it was host to the Summer Olympics in 2008? It will become the first city in Olympic history to host both the Winter and Summer Games.The answer is simple. Potential cities in Europe — as many as six — dropped out of the bidding in the wake of the doping-scandal-ridden 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The widely advertised price tag for Sochi of $51 billion also frightened away future bidders.When it got down to the voting stage in 2015 in meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the International Olympic Committee was left with only two candidates: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.Beijing won narrowly 44-40, a close vote that was marred by what some at the time suggested might have been voting irregularities. IOC President Thomas Bach bristled at the suggestion.What cities or areas withdrew from the 2022 bid race?It's a long list of rejections from cities across Europe. Oslo and Stockholm are the two high-profile cities that pulled out during the bidding process. They were joined by Krakow, Poland, and Lviv, Ukraine, which also withdrew bids.Two other areas with potentially strong bids — St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich, Germany — were rejected by the public in voter referendums. The German rejection was a stinging blow to Bach, who is from Germany. It's also notable that the IOC headquarters are in Switzerland.Oslo and Stockholm, probably regarded as the preferred venues as the IOC attempted to return the Olympics to traditional European winter venues, both pulled out because of costs and politics.Bach acknowledged at the time in a 2014 interview that the Winter Olympics were a tough sell."The number of candidates for winter is already very limited by geography," he said. "Also we can't forget that this is a challenging time with regard to the world economy."Beijing or Almaty?The choice for the IOC members came down to two authoritarian governments that did not require any public vote, and also had few constraints on spending: Beijing and Almaty. Beijing spent more than $40 billion on the 2008 Summer Olympics.In promoting their proposals, organizers in Almaty at the time said 79% supported the bid. Beijing said 94.8% in China were in favor.Almaty tried to win the vote, reminding that it was a winter sports city surrounded by mountains and natural snow. It was a dig at Beijing, which has no winter sports tradition and little natural snow in the areas picked for skiing.Beijing and some IOC members countered that skiers actually prefer artificial snow. The IOC also saw Beijing as a huge winter-sports business opportunity.Beijing won by four votes, which was described as much closer than expected. Members chose what they believed to be the less risky option, which has not turned out that way."It really is a safe choice," IOC President Bach said at the time. "We know China will deliver on its promises."The IOC choice was sharply criticized at the time by human rights groups, which noted that the 2008 Olympics had not improved rights' conditions in China.

The Beijing Winter Olympics open in just under two months and are now the target of a diplomatic boycott by the United States, with others likely to follow.

So how did Beijing land the Winter Olympics, so soon after it was host to the Summer Olympics in 2008? It will become the first city in Olympic history to host both the Winter and Summer Games.

The answer is simple. Potential cities in Europe — as many as six — dropped out of the bidding in the wake of the doping-scandal-ridden 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The widely advertised price tag for Sochi of $51 billion also frightened away future bidders.

When it got down to the voting stage in 2015 in meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the International Olympic Committee was left with only two candidates: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Beijing won narrowly 44-40, a close vote that was marred by what some at the time suggested might have been voting irregularities. IOC President Thomas Bach bristled at the suggestion.

What cities or areas withdrew from the 2022 bid race?

It's a long list of rejections from cities across Europe. Oslo and Stockholm are the two high-profile cities that pulled out during the bidding process. They were joined by Krakow, Poland, and Lviv, Ukraine, which also withdrew bids.

Two other areas with potentially strong bids — St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich, Germany — were rejected by the public in voter referendums. The German rejection was a stinging blow to Bach, who is from Germany. It's also notable that the IOC headquarters are in Switzerland.

Oslo and Stockholm, probably regarded as the preferred venues as the IOC attempted to return the Olympics to traditional European winter venues, both pulled out because of costs and politics.

Bach acknowledged at the time in a 2014 interview that the Winter Olympics were a tough sell.

"The number of candidates for winter is already very limited by geography," he said. "Also we can't forget that this is a challenging time with regard to the world economy."

Beijing or Almaty?

The choice for the IOC members came down to two authoritarian governments that did not require any public vote, and also had few constraints on spending: Beijing and Almaty. Beijing spent more than $40 billion on the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In promoting their proposals, organizers in Almaty at the time said 79% supported the bid. Beijing said 94.8% in China were in favor.

Almaty tried to win the vote, reminding that it was a winter sports city surrounded by mountains and natural snow. It was a dig at Beijing, which has no winter sports tradition and little natural snow in the areas picked for skiing.

Beijing and some IOC members countered that skiers actually prefer artificial snow. The IOC also saw Beijing as a huge winter-sports business opportunity.

Beijing won by four votes, which was described as much closer than expected. Members chose what they believed to be the less risky option, which has not turned out that way.

"It really is a safe choice," IOC President Bach said at the time. "We know China will deliver on its promises."

The IOC choice was sharply criticized at the time by human rights groups, which noted that the 2008 Olympics had not improved rights' conditions in China.

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