Beijing was selected on Friday, July 31, to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. This decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is historic: the Chinese capital will become the first city in the world to host both the Summer Games (2008) and the Winter Games.
Beijing was chosen over Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, in a secret ballot vote by the IOC members. These were the only two candidate cities, and the vote was much closer than expected: Beijing won with 44 votes, compared to 40 for Almaty (with one abstention).
