Young supporters of Almaty's candidacy for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games wait for the announcement of the IOC vote, at the Abai square in Almaty, Kazakhstan, yesterday. (Reuters)
AFP/Almaty
Despondent residents in Almaty, energy-rich Kazakhstan’s largest city, reacted with dismay after Beijing pipped the ex-Soviet underdog to the right to stage the 2022 Winter Olympics in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Hundreds of inhabitants, some with the sky blue and yellow Kazakh flag painted on their cheeks, had gathered expectantly for an open-air broadcast of the announcement in the centre of the city of some 1.5 million.
In the end, however, they were left to traipse home in disappointment as the city’s bid to become the first country in the Central Asian region to host an Olympics fell just short: Beijing won by 44 votes to 40.
“We are overwhelmed with emotions,” said Galiya Asylbekova, 52, with tears in her eyes. “It’s a shame. It’s the prestige of the country, and Kazakhstan should have won.”
Svetlana, a pensioner in her seventies, tried to comfort her: “Well, we will surely win in 2026. We may not live that long to see it, but our youth definitely will.”
“It is a shame Almaty did not win,” said Rustam Kullibayev, a 20-year-old student, as he left the screening. “The Olympics means history. We would have had something to tell our children. And of course, it is always interesting when people come to visit your city.”
Central Asian Almaty, which was Kazakhstan’s capital until glitzy government project Astana took its mantle in 1997, had tried and failed to host major sporting events in the past, notably the 2014 Winter Olympics that Sochi in neighbouring Russia ended up hosting.
But dreams of Almaty 2022 were buoyed by the news that big hitters Oslo, Munich and Stockholm all withdrew their bids, leaving Almaty to go head-to-head with Beijing.
Set against a backdrop of striking mountains, Almaty’s bid committee stressed Beijing’s shortage of real snow in its final presentation to the IOC, winning supporters over with a hip promotional video featuring the slogan ‘Keeping it real’.
The city’s bid was not without controversy, however, as critics highlighted Kazakhstan’s generally poor human rights record and a developing economy that has stuttered on the back of low prices for its key crude oil export.
In what many saw as a concession to the IOC, the country’s constitutional court ruled to block a bill that would have banned “propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation” in May, while bid members assured the IOC the country would be able to tap into a $75 billion sovereign wealth fund to finance the games if needed.
“It’s upsetting that we didn’t win,” said shop worker Ruslan Chil-Ogly, 20. “I wanted to see such as great event as the Olympics with my own eyes and holding the games could have boosted Kazakhstan to a new economic level.”
While some were disappointed, however, others said they were breathing a sigh of relief over the decision.
“I’m glad that Almaty lost out,” said restaurant manager Elchin Mamedov. “Money would have been spent from state funds and half of that would have been stolen. Funds that would have been spent on the Olympics could be used for important social projects,” he said.
Despite the heartbreak, organisers of Almaty’s unsuccessful bid vowed to push ahead with their ambitious plan to turn their city into a winter wonderland.
The Kazakhstan bid team’s organisers had hoped that staging the Winter Olympics would put their city on the international sporting map but were adamant the former Soviet state had already achieved that just by throwing their hat in the ring.
“By bidding for the Winter Games we showed the world the amazing progress that Kazakhstan has made since its independence,” said Andrey Kryukov, the vice-chairman of Almaty’s bid team. “This alone is a major victory for our country.”
The financial clout of oil-producing Kazakhstan has already enabled it to stage the Asian Winter Games and it is preparing to host the Winter Universiade in 2017. Almaty sees sport not only as a way to promote the country but also to develop businesses beyond the energy sector.
“Consistent with our long-term winter sports development plan, we will continue to develop our city into a winter sports hub for all of Central Asia,” Kryukov told reporters. “Our region will continue to benefit from our city’s abundance of winter sports venues and we remain committed to bringing major events to our city.”
Almaty bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics but failed to make it past the initial phase and was given little hope of winning the election when it was one of six original bidders for 2022.
But when the four European candidates all dropped out Almaty was left facing just one rival, albeit the Chinese capital.
Their case was strengthened when the IOC introduced a range of incentives to attract more bidders for future Games and Almaty adopted some of them for its proposals, even though the new rules don’t come into force until the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov also delivered a powerful speech that struck at the heart of the IOC’s ideals.
He reminded the members, who include sports administrators, captains of industry and even royalty, that they had a long tradition of awarding the Games to the underdogs.
“It was the IOC who took the Games to Tokyo 20 years after World War Two, to Moscow during the Cold War,” Massimov said. “You were right to do this. Today we ask you to have faith in us, faith in Kazakhstan. Almaty is golden opportunity to show smaller, advancing nations can host the Games.”
Although China won, becoming the first city to be awarded both the Summer and Winter Olympics, the final vote was closer than expected with Beijing getting 44 votes and Almaty 40.
“We extend our congratulations to Beijing,” Kryukov said. “While we are disappointed, we are also grateful to the IOC for giving us the opportunity to present our vision to the world.”
