(ATR) The IOC confirms that six cities have entered bids for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
As expected, Almaty (Kazakhstan), Beijing (China), Krakow (Poland), Lviv (Ukraine), Oslo (Norway), and Stockholm (Sweden) all submitted expressions of interest by the Nov. 14 midnight application deadline.
Only Oslo has hosted a Winter Games before, in 1952. Stockholm and Beijing have previously staged the Summer Olympics, in 1912 and 2008 respectively.
The field is twice the number of cities who contested the race for 2018 hosting rights secured by PyeongChang in 2011.
The IOC said the six cities represented a strong mix of both traditional and developing winter sports markets.
"I am delighted that six cities are bidding to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games," said IOC president Thomas Bach.
"These cities and their supporters clearly understand the benefits that hosting the Games can have and the long lasting legacy that a Games can bring to a region. Indeed, while recent Games have left an array of sporting, social, economic and other legacies for the local population, many cities that did not go on to win the right to host the Games have also noted benefits as a result of their bids," he added.
The six applicant cities will be invited to attend a seminar in Lausanne from Dec. 4 to 6 and to participate in an observer programme tailored to their needs during the Sochi 2014 Olympics.
National Olympic Committees had until midnight on Thursday to submit an application to the IOC that complied with prerequisite criteria (declarations concerning the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Court of Arbitration for Sport) established by the IOC Executive Board in 2010.
The applicant cities now begin phase one of a two-step technical analysis that culminates in the election of the 2022 host city by the IOC Session in July 31, 2015.
Submission of the cities' application files, essentially responses to a detailed IOC questionnaire, are due March 14.
The IOC will shortlist the candidate cities on July 8-9.
Following the submission of candidature files and government guarantees in January 2015, an IOC Evaluation Commission will visit each candidate city to prepare a technical report to assist IOC members in electing the host city. These visits are scheduled February to March 2015.
This report will be made available to IOC members prior to a two-day briefing in May/June that provides the members with the opportunity to question the cities directly about their Olympic projects ahead of the vote in Kuala Lumpur a month later.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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