Beijing clinches historic 2022 Winter Games vote

China's Vice Premier Liu Yandong (centre) celebrates with Beijing mayor and president of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bid Wang Anshun (left) and Liu Peng, minister of the General Administration of Sport of China, after Beijing was awarded the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, at IOC meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

AFP/Kuala Lumpur

Beijing on Friday narrowly won a historic International Olympic Committee vote for the 2022 Winter Games that secured its place in sporting history.

The Chinese capital beat Almaty in Kazakhstan by just 44 votes to 40, with one abstention, to become the first city to be awarded both the summer and winter Games.

Beijing's mayor Wang Anshun hailed the win, saying it had been a "remarkable day" for China.

Beijing held the summer Olympics in 2008 in what was then seen as China sealing its place on the world stage as an emerging superpower.

This time it had been the strong favourite, presenting itself as an experienced pair of hands against underdog Almaty.

But the former capital of the Central Asian republic ate into China's support with a "Keeping It Real" campaign that played on Beijing's reliance on artificial snow and the vast distances between its venues.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said China's win was a "safe" and "historic" decision, adding: "We know China will deliver on its promises."

Bach had ordered a revote with paper ballots after voting with electronic tablets produced doubtful results.

Bach reacted tersely to suggestions of voting irregularities insisting it was a "technical issue."

IOC surprise  

IOC members were surprised by the narrow victory when it was declared.

"I always said Almaty would get more support than people had expected, but I never thought it would be that close," said Craig Reedie, a British member of the IOC.

He said members had been impressed by the final presentation by Kazakh prime minister Karim Massimov.

China's President Xi Jinping promised rock solid government support for Beijing.

"Let me assure you that if you choose Beijing, the Chinese people will present to the world a fantastic, extraordinary and excellent Olympic Winter Games," Xi said in a video message to the meeting.

After the result, Chinese bid officials, including basketball legend Yao Ming, hugged each other in celebration. In Beijing, performers and uniformed volunteers erupted into orchestrated dancing and flag-waving.

Some of Beijing's 2008 venues, including its iconic Bird's Nest national stadium will be reused for the 2022 Games.

But it will also make widespread use of machine-made snow for outdoor events and some of the venues are 200 kilometres from Beijing.