Five cities submit bid files for 2022 Winter Olympics
Despite security concerns, the Sochi Games went off without a hitch. (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Five cities — Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; and Oslo — have submitted their bid files to the International Olympic Committee to host the 2022 Winter Olympics on Friday, according to an Associated Press report.
The IOC executive board will decide what cities will advance to the "final phase" in July, and then a host city will be selected on July 31, 2015, in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.
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A few notes on the cities and the 2022 Games:
- If selected, Beijing would become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.
- Oslo hosted the 1952 Winter Games.
- If Kazakhstan or Beijing wins, 2022 will be the third straight Olympics in Asia — after Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018, and Tokyo in 2020.
- Krakow and Lviv are about 340 kilometers apart.
- North America hasn't hosted an Olympics since Vancouver in 2010 and won't again until at least 2024.
- The United States last hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City and the Summer Games in 1996 in Atlanta.
