The organising committee for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games has been established five months after the election of Beijing as host city, with Guo Jinlong confirmed as president of the newly formed body.

During the 2008 Olympic Games, Guo was mayor of Beijing and executive chairman of the organising committee.

Guo said the first duty would be to review Beijing's host city contract in light of the IOC's Olympic Agenda 2020.

"We will pore over the HCC and the Olympic Agenda 2020, and review our bid commitments before we work out the roadmap and timetable," Guo was reported as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

"We shall ensure every task is accomplished.”

The organising committee, created by the city and the National Olympic Committee, will be responsible for ensuring the Games are organised successfully. Its establishment follows an Orientation Seminar that was held in early November in Beijing. 

Guo’s appointment was welcomed by IOC president Thomas Bach.

“On behalf of the International Olympic Committee, it is my great pleasure to congratulate everyone on the inauguration of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022,” he said.

“Allow me to congratulate Mr Guo Jinlong, the President of the Organising Committee.

“Beijing is making history as the first city in the world to host both the Olympic Summer Games and the Olympic Winter Games.”

Reducing the cost and increasing the sustainability of hosting the Games is a key aim of Agenda 2020. 

Using infrastructure from the 2008 Olympic Games will help Beijing to keep costs down, with a projected budget of US$1.5bn.

“The formation of the Organising Committee represents the start of an exciting journey for the entire Olympic family,” said Bach.

“This milestone is the first step on our six-year journey together to deliver brilliant Olympic Winter Games in 2022 for Beijing, for China, and for the world.”

Beijing was selected as host of the 2022 ahead of Almaty, the only other city that progressed to the candidature stage. 

The host faces challenges in managing air pollution in the city and ensuring there is enough snow in the mountain resort of  Zhangjiakou. 

According to Xinhua, Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked the organizers to "work harder to host a fantastic, extraordinary and excellent Games”, saying city management, environmental protection, budgetary control and the appeal of winter sports in China will all need to be heightened. 

A number of Chinese dignitaries atteneded the launch of the organising committee, including Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, Beijing 2022 President Guo Jinlong, Chinese Olympic Committee President Liu Peng, Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong, Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun and Hebei Governor Zhang Qingwei. 

Atos, the Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic Games, announced on Wednesday that it has delivered the cloud IT infrastructure that will be used for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

The system represents a significant step forward in the digitisation of the Olympic Games as it extends the use of cloud to most applications. 

“The delivery of the secure cloud, IT infrastructure to support all Olympic Games from 2018 is a major milestone in our digital transformation,” said Jean-Benoît Gauthier, Technology Director at the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“Cloud is a perfect fit for the Olympic Games and we are delighted to be working with our long-term Worldwide IT Partner on this important project that will benefit all those who participate in the Games – media, athletes and spectators.”

The new secure cloud IT infrastructure, powered by Atos’ strategic partner EMC, will be used to test and run IT applications used to distribute results to the media worldwide.

The solution will also support the core planning systems used to recruit volunteers, support workforce management, manage the competition schedule and process accreditations for athletes, media and the wider Olympic Family.

The converged infrastructure solution, which uses Atos’ Canopy Enterprise Private Cloud and VCE’s Vblock System, can support other businesses on their journey to cloud. 

The system will be first to test the competition schedule and the workforce management systems that will be used by the Pyeongchang 2018 Organising Committee from the end of 2015. 

The capacity of the cloud solution can be increased and decreased according to the demands of the different stages of event delivery. 

In September 2015, cloud capacity will increase to perform technical testing proving the solution can support the expected demand through the project, and then decrease to support the limited production needs at the early stages of the project. 

Around two years before the Games, capacity and bandwidth will be increased again to cover the high level of demand for thousands of volunteer requests as the volunteer portal goes operational.

“The move to the cloud brings many benefits for the Olympic Games. It takes away the need to rebuild an entire infrastructure for each of the Games, which is both timely and costly,” said Patrick Adiba, group chief commercial officer, CEO of major events at Atos.

“It also helps the IT team to react faster and to anticipate new needs and perhaps most importantly, it provides flexibility. As the Olympics does not need to operate at full capacity all the time, a cloud infrastructure will enable computing power to be scaled up and down to meet demand and ensure the best experience for users.”

As IOC’s Coordination Commission for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games concluded on Thursday, the International Ski Federation (FIS) secretary general Sarah Lewis told HOST CITY that progress is impressive, expressing confidence that venues will be ready in time for test events in 2016. 

"The Alpine Skiing downhill course at Jeongsong and Freestyle and Snowboard cross and slopestyle courses are really starting to taking shape now and the progress with their construction over the past three months is impressive,” Sarah Lewis, FIS Secretary General told HOST CITY, speaking from PyeongChang.

“We're confident that the FIS World Cup competitions in February 2016 will prove to be an important milestone in the preparations for the Games and generate true excitement in PyeongChang and Korea when the world's best athletes are competing."

Sarah Lewis, who is also Secretary General of the Association of Winter Olympic International Federations, is to speak at HOST CITY 2015 on “The Changing Face of Sports Organisations”.

The IOC’s Coordination Commission Chair Gunilla Lindberg also hailed the good progress.

“The preparations for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 are developing well. Support from all the local partners continues to be strong, with the national and regional governments both present during our meetings. We were also delighted to have with us representatives of the seven International Federations on the 2018 programme, who brought their sport-specific expertise to the discussions. 

“This was helpful for PyeongChang 2018, as it has now entered the delivery phase of preparations and is working on the detailed services for the athletes and technicians. This will be particularly important for the first sports events early next year, which include important dates on the international calendar, namely an FIS Alpine World Cup, an FIS Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard World Cup, and an IBSF/FIL pre-homologation event.”

She also stressed that PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee (POCOG) must maintain its good progress as these test events loom.

“The venues continue to progress rapidly. We visited Jeongseon and the Alpensia Sliding Centre, and got a really good impression of what the athletes will experience come Games time. I am confident that they will be very pleased. 

“The competition sites remain on schedule for the Games, but the organisers need to maintain their focus, as some delivery dates are very close to the start of the test events. It is important that PyeongChang 2018 delivers these events successfully and, in particular, the first events next February, in order to create a solid basis for its planning and preparations for the Games. 

“This will also be a great opportunity for Koreans to experience elite winter sport and get engaged in the Games, as some of the world’s best athletes in those sports will be present in order to get a feeling for the 2018 Olympic venues.”

The next IOC Coordination Commission visit will be in March 2016.

PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee President Yang-ho Cho said, “It has been a very productive three days. I feel that we are moving in the right direction to stage great Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

“With the feedback and support of the Coordination Commission, we have made a number of important and critical decisions. As we move further ahead into the operational phase of the Games, I would like to thank the national and International Federations for their guidance and support. Their expertise and Games experience have been instrumental to guiding POCOG.”

The Beijing 2022 bid committee has promised to keep costs down on being elected as the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games at the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, with the International Olympic Committee citing manageable infrastructure costs as a key factor in the success of the bid. 

“Just as with the Beijing 2008 Summer Games, the Olympic Family has put its faith in Beijing again to deliver the athlete-centred, sustainable and economical Games we have promised,” the newly elected host of the 2022 Olympic Games said in a statement issued to the press. 

Existing venues, such as the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium built for the Games in 2008, will feature in the Games. US$1.5bn will be spent on Olympic villages, sports venues and other infrastructure, a sum that is “significantly less than for Olympic Games in the past”, according to the IOC.

“Olympic Agenda 2020 calls for a stronger focus on sustainability, legacy, and transparency, while making it easier for host cities to tailor Games that meet their needs rather than trying to fit a template,” the IOC said in a statement issued after the election.

“Beijing took advantage of the flexibility provided by Olympic Agenda 2020 to improve its plans for the Games and reduce costs.”

Despite being widely viewed as the runaway favourite, Beijing won the vote narrowly with just 44 to Almaty’s 40. Only 84 of the 100 International Olympic Committee members participated in a vote that had to be recast after technical difficulties. 

The Beijing 2022 Winter Games will immediately follow the 2018 edition in PyeongChang, South Korea. Developing winter sports further in the Asian market promises to be a valuable effect of hosting the Games in Beijing.

“Beijing aims to use the Games to accelerate the development of a new sport, culture and tourism area, and to encourage interest in winter sports in a region that is home to more than 300 million people in northern China,” the IOC said.

The Beijing 2022 bid committee said “This will be a memorable event at the foot of the Great Wall for the whole Olympic Family, the athletes and the spectators that will further enhance the tremendous potential to grow winter sports in our country, in Asia and around the world.”

Beijing will be the first city to host both a summer and winter edition of the Olympic Games – facilitated in part by hosting many skiing events at Zhangjiakou, 220km away from Beijing. Artificial snow is also likely to play a role in enabling the competitions to take place. 

The host city contract signed by Beijing representatives and IOC president Thomas Bach has been made public for the first time. 

Meanwhile, the “Olympic capital” city of Lausanne was elected as the host of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games at the IOC Session, garnering 71 votes to Brasov’s 10. 

The IOC Evaluation Commission singled out Lausanne for its good use of existing, temporary and demountable venues, which is in line with Olympic Agenda 2020 sustainability reforms.

Samsung Group on Monday signed as domestic sponsor of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. 

Samsung will support the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) with a sponsor package valued at KRW 100 bn (USD 92m) to become a domestic partner working in various business areas across the Samsung group.

The domestic sponsorship is in addition to the Worldwide TOP Partnership with the IOC, which Samsung recently renewed until 2020 and which includes the provision of wireless communications equipment, tablet PC, notebook computer and desktop PCs.

"We are happy to have Samsung support in addition to the TOP partner agreement with POCOG,” Cho Yang-ho, president of POCOG said. “We are confident that this sponsorship agreement will encourage other Korean companies to join as sponsors for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”

POCOG has also signed domestic sponsors agreements with Samsung Group, Korean Air, KT, Youngone Outdoor (The NORTH FACE Brand), Pagoda Education Group and Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, but has so far only achieved 41 per cent of its sponsorship target.

According to AFP, POCOG anticipates reaching 70 per cent of its sponsorship target by the end of 2015.

"Samsung Group is thrilled that Korea has won the right to host the Olympic Winter Games. The Corporation demonstrates its support by extending the domestic marketing rights for PyeongChang 2018 that are already in place through the TOP (The Olympic Partner) contract with the IOC," said Park Sangjin, president of corporate relations at Samsung.

"Indeed, Samsung has made a meaningful decision to provide additional support for the PyeongChang 2018 organizing committee to contribute to the successful Olympic Winter Games. This sponsorship agreement furthers our efforts to commit to social responsibility as a corporate representative of Korea."

Beijing 2022 is anticipating at least US$858m of revenues as it seeks to host the Winter Olympic Games, the bid committee told IOC evaluation commission members on the final day of presentations. 

China’s economic growth is continuing to lead the world and the country is prioritising the development of sports, leisure and tourism, the bid committee said.

China has set a target for its sports industry to grow to 800 billion USD by 2025 through promoting sports businesses, developing sport facilities and opening up the market to consumer products and services. 

By 2022, the bid committee anticipates that the combined sports, culture, tourism, leisure, conferences and exhibitions industries will amount to about 20 per cent of GDP of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou region, which is being developed as a “Sport, Culture and Tourism Belt”.

US$660m of organising committee revenues would be raised through sponsorship. 

Beijing 2022 has already secured eight sponsors, including: Tencent Group, fourth largest Internet company in the world, Snow Beer, the world's bestselling beer brand, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest professional service network, Beijing Bank, Beijing Automotive Group, Anta Sports, True Colour Stationary and Sandaogu Travel Company. 

The remaining revenue would be raised through the licensing and ticketing programmes.

Beijing 2022 is optimistic about ticketing sales, partly because the Games will coincide with the Chinese New Year festival and school holidays. 

The bid committee includes Olympic marketing experts who worked on Beijing 2008. 

“We guarantee that Beijing 2022 will meet the revenue targets, secure the best returns for the IOC TOP partners, as well as national partners, ensure full stadia with amazing atmosphere, in strict respect to all the IOC’s and IPC’s marketing rules,” said Mr. Chen Feng, former deputy director of marketing of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

In its bid to host the 2022 Games, Beijing is competing against the Kazakh city of Almaty, which the IOC evaluation commission visited in February and where sponsorship and marketing are newer concepts.

“The sponsorship landscape is evolving, and Almaty 2022 would help speed up this evolution,” said Alimzhan Akayev, marketing advisor to Almaty 2022 and marketing director of the Combat and Strength Sports Confederation of Kazakhstan.

“Almaty 2022, and the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan have agreed on a Joint Marketing Programme in order to optimise and protect the revenue-generating ability of the OCOG. All required guarantees were provided”.

On a diplomatic trip to Switzerland, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi met with IOC president Thomas Bach on Monday and underlined the government’s commitment to the Winter Olympic Games in 2022. 

Joined by IOC vice-president Yu Zaiqing, president Bach praised the China’s development of sport in and its leadership on the role of sport in development internationally. 

“China has a real vision about the importance of sport for education, for social cohesion and for international representation,” said Bach. 

“I would like to thank again President Xi for not only promoting the role of sport in China but also for supporting the mention of sport within the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.”

The UN Member States are expected to use the SDGs as goals and targets to frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years.

Bach also praised the “outstanding development of sport” in China under the leadership of president Xi Jinping.

The meeting took place in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, shortly after the IOC Evaluation Commission’s inspection of Beijing’s bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. 

Wang reiterated that the Chinese government is fully supportive of the bid, assuring the IOC that all commitments made during the bidding phase would be implemented.

He was in Lausanne for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme, along with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s minister of foreign affairs, with whom Bach discussed Russia’s contribution to the UN SDGs and his upcoming visit to Sochi at the end of April. 

Bach also met with Germany’s foreign minister, Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier and discussed  the bidding procedure for the 2024 Olympic Games. 

As Lillehammer celebrated one year to go until the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), its young organisers were praised by the event’s owner and custodian, the International Olympic Committee.

Celebrations began in Lillehammer on Wednesday night with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway unveiling an OMEGA countdown clock showing 365 days to go.

Speaking at the ceremony, IOC vice president Nawal El Moutawakel said: “This is truly a Games by young people for young people and a big thank-you goes to the tremendous efforts of the young and talented local Organising Committee.”

Lillehammer 2016 CEO Tomas Holmestad said: “Every one of the next 365 days now counts to making Lillehammer 2016 a huge success.  We have an amazing team of young, talented staff and I know we will deliver a unique Winter Youth Olympic Games.”

The festivities will continue for several days in Lillehammer, Hamar and Gjøvik, with cultural spectacles, a YOG-themed ice hockey match and the “Sjogg Film Festival” in the centre of the city. 

Sjogg, the Norwegian word for snow, is also the name of the Lillehammer 2016 mascot. 

During the Games, Lillehammer, Hamar and Gjøvik will also host “learn and share” activities, which the IOC says is designed to provide guidance on Olympic values, the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle and “how to be true champions on and off the field of play”.

During the unveiling of the clock, the Crown Prince and El Moutawakel were joined by Angela Ruggiero, Chair of the IOC coordination commission and Norwegian Minister for Culture Thorhild Widvey. 

Earlier in the day, El Moutawakel and Ruggiero took part in activities including a school sports day and a session on the ice, where Olympic ice hockey champion Ruggiero provided a coaching session to local youngsters.

Lillehammer hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1994. 

“We have an Olympic Games legacy under our belts, and now we will create the legacy of Lillehammer 2016,” said Holmestad.

Lillehammer 2016, the second Winter Youth Olympic Games, will take place from 12 to 21 February 2016, featuring more than 1,000 top athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 from over 70 countries. 

The athletes will compete in the same seven sports as those on the Olympic programme, plus some new additions such as Monobob, snowboard cross and cross-country cross as well as mixed-gender and mixed-National Olympic Committee competitions.

“With its exciting sports and unique spirit, this will certainly be a wonderful and unforgettable YOG,” said El Moutawakel.

The drop-out of several European cities bidding for the 2022 Olympic Games has created “shockwaves”, but IOC reforms and stronger communication from cities will enable them build the public support needed to bid for future Games.

This is the view of Mike Lee, chairman of Vero, who led on the communications strategies for Rio 2016 and London 2012.

“The race for 2022 has sent a few shockwaves around the Olympic movement, so it’s good that the IOC have already been thinking about this for a while under President Bach,” Lee told HOST CITY. 

A lack of public support led the European cities of Stockholm, Munich, Krakow and Oslo to withdraw from bidding for the 2022 Winter Games. The perceived cost of hosting, at a time when Sochi was investing billions in hosting the 2014 Winter Games, was a major factor in suppressing public appetite for hosting the Games. 

The Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms set in motion by IOC president Thomas Bach are addressing this issue in a number of ways. “A number of the reforms that are being proposed for the bidding process and the way that cities engage with the IOC are all good news,” said Lee.

One important recommendation is the possibility of regional bids, which would allow existing venues in different cities to feature in bids. “There’s definitely going to be a lot more dialogue and flexibility – tailoring, if you wish, the way in which a bid is constructed.”

While these changes from the rights holder are clearly a positive step, city governors will also have a major role to play in building public support for bids.

“You will still need to have support from the relevant levels of government. The lessons from all the recent cycle of bidding is that that remains central. The way you have democratic scrutiny and, in some cases, all the requirements of a referendum – it’s a reminder that you need to build public support.”

The two cities left in the race for 2022 – Beijing and Almaty – do not have a tradition of public referendums. Some observers fear that democratic nations might remain disadvantaged in future bidding cycles.

“This issue of public opinion and political support go hand in hand and you’ve got to pay a lot of attention to it. It’s clearly solvable; otherwise you’d never see bids emerging from democratic countries.”

The timing of polls needs to be considered carefully. “Ideally you want to be able to test public opinion after you’ve had some sort of campaign, because if you have a cold test, don’t be surprised if you have a negative result.

“The London bid would be a very good example. If were depending on the poll in the early days of the London bid, London would never have progressed. It took some time to build the campaign and in the end the polling figures for London were very good, and the national joy came with London winning in Singapore.” 

Warning Signals

Rights holders of major events can expect to see a larger number of applicant cities emerging from this bearish period. “It would be wrong to judge the state of the appetite for major events just from the Olympic bidding process for 2022,” says Lee.

“Most mega events do have multiple bidders – people can’t be looking at the willingness of cities to host purely through the prism of the 2022 Winter Games race, because that is a bit of a one-off. But it’s sent off some warning signals and Agenda 2020, from an Olympic perspective, is all a part of responding to that.”

The two candidate cities for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games submitted their candidature files to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne on Tuesday. 

Both candidates, Almaty and Beijing, highlighted how they amended their bids to take into account the Agenda 2020 reforms approved by the IOC in December, with IOC president Thomas Bach confirming the IOC will work with the candidates to apply the reforms.

 “Working with the two Candidate Cities, we will apply the first reforms which have been approved by the IOC members very recently in Monaco as part of our Olympic Agenda 2020 roadmap,” said IOC president Bach on Tuesday,

“This will be done through ongoing consultation with the Candidate Cities.”

Developed over the course of 2014, when several European cities pulled out of bidding for the 2022 Winter Games, Agenda 2020 introduces a number of changes to make bidding for and hosting the Games more sustainable, affordable and beneficial for cities. 

Almaty and Beijing have retrospectively adjusted their bids to incorporate some of the IOC’s recommendations and reforms.

“Many recommendations of Agenda 2020 were taken into consideration while developing the concept of the 2022 Winter Games,” said Mrs Zauresh Amanzholova, vice mayor of Almaty City.

“We believe our bid is a perfect fit with this new philosophy and brings essential benefits to the Almaty and Kazakhstani people. 

“Almaty 2022 can be a catalyst for social, economic and sports growth in the region where winter sports facilities are badly needed.”

Janez Kocijančič, vice president of the International Ski Federation was in Monaco for the approval of Agenda 2020. He told HOST CITY “Almaty plan to build their winter sport capacity,” but could not reveal details of the scope or potential cost of the work.

Agenda 2020 promotes the use of existing and temporary infrastructure to reduce infrastructure costs for bidding cities. While both bids require significant infrastructure development, Almaty would need to invest more than Beijing, which incorporates the more developed resort of nearby Zhangjiakou into its candidature.

“Our Candidature File embodies the requirements of the IOC and the philosophy of Olympic Agenda 2020,” said Mr Wang Anshun, president of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee and mayor of Beijing.

“The important concept of running athlete-centred, economical and sustainable Games will be represented well in our bid and actual organisation of the Games in 2022.”

The successful candidate will receive an estimated US$880m contribution from the IOC, derived from marketing and broadcasting revenues as well as “assistance provided to the Organising Committee by the IOC and related entities”.

For the first time, the Host City Contract will be made public, as recommended by Agenda 2020. The host city will also be bound to the new principle of non-discrimination on sexual orientation.

Kocijančič also made comments to HOST CITY that could be interpreted to support the view that Beijing represents the richest potential for the development of winter sports in Asia. 

“Europe is where skiing and most winter sports were born and have their home, but regarding the development of the sport it would be very wise to go east. 

“Because there are tremendous changes in the modern world – the countries are changing, the social structure, there are more and more people who can afford skiing.”

Asked which country represents the biggest market, he said “Everybody knows China is China… and Kazakhstan is Kazakhstan.”

René Fasel, IOC member and president of the International Ice Hockey Federation went further still, breaking IOC rules by telling local press during a junior championship event in Toronto, "This is a fact, China is a favourite."

Anything can happen in a bid campaign however and the coming months will be critical for both candidates. 

The evaluation commission will inspect Almaty’s sites from 14 to 18 February and Beijing’s from 24 to 28 March and publish their report on www.olympic.org before the briefing for IOC members that will take place from 9 to 10 2015. 

The appointment of Russian IOC member Alexander Zhukov as chair of the evaluation commission is interesting, as his country neighbours and has strong ties with both China and Kazakhstan – potentially reducing the cost of the evaluation process without compromising objectivity. 

The host city for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games will be elected at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur following a final presentation by the cities to the full IOC membership on 31 July.

The IOC has informed candidate cities that they can make their candidature files public, and the candidates will inform HOST CITY if and when this happens.