Before 1994, when the summer & winter games were held in the same year, there was a lot more built-up anticipation/excitement. Then the IOC staggered them 2 years apart. Is there event fatigue now?
Almaty, Kazakhstan is surrounded by the beautiful mountains. It has a famous high-altitude skating rink where speed skaters beat all world records. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaty_bid_for_the_2022_Winter_Olympics#/media/File:Medeobanen1.jpg
It is really a gorgeous place.
They already hosted Asian Winter Games there. WSJ journalist may need to do his homework better - Almaty is not lacking credentials but association with Borat did not help them obviously And China has more money and influence.
I enjoy the Summer Olympics. I admit I don’t pay too much attention to the Winter sports aside from the main attractions. The Olympics gives my buddies and I a reason to hang out at the sports bars and host get togethers. It’s a time that is certainly welcomed.
Would I want the Olympics to come to my home town? Heck no! The best thing about this place is no one knows it’s here!
@drgoogle, The LA Olympics actually made money (the first Olympics since forever to do so), so it definitely wasn’t a booby prize for LA. But the Olympics these days just cost too much money. They still draw a ton of eyeballs on TV, but few cities in democracies have citizens who think spending billions on that is worth it.
Personally, I think that they should split the Summer Olympics in to Summer and Indoor (for only indoor events). That may cut down on costs some.
Purple, I’ve heard there is a new clause now that the cities that host the Olympics event has to absorb the lost. Or something like that. But the traffic would be horrendous. The only thing I’m glad is that I will be retired. I don’t have to put up with the traffic.
I lived in LA during the '84 Olympics, and it turned out to be really nice. I think locals were so worried about traffic that they all went out of town. Traffic was actually lighter than usual, including my daily grind from the west side to downtown and back. I watched track events at the Coliseum and waterpolo at Pepperdine U.
A wonderful Pan Am games just finished in Toronto and there is considerable buzz about making an attempt to get the 2024 Olympic summer games here. I think it would be great to have the games here!
Boston was supposed to be our candidate for the 2024 Summer Olympics, but the city just withdrew its bid because of lack of local support.
And Beijing didn’t exactly win a hard-fought competition for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The only other candidate was a place in Kazakhstan, which obviously doesn’t have Beijing’s resources. All the other cities dropped their bids.
Do any cities (other than Beijing) even want to host the Olympics anymore?
Seems the costs associated with hosting Olympic Games will make it all but fiscally prohibitive for most western and Democratic countries to contemplate this in the future without bankrupting their cities or countries. Looks like only the authoritarian countries are the only ones who can put up the resources to do this. Maybe Pyongyang will put in a bid for the next games.
I wouldn’t have expected that, @alwaysamom. Thanks for letting us know. I wonder whether some committee members wanted to give the Games to a country that hadn’t hosted them before.
Beijing won by just 4 votes over Almaty. I have no desire to travel to Beijjng, but Almaty is on my “places I would like to visit again” list. BTW, the country waved visitor visa requirements for the US citizens last year.
And China has more money and influence.
thank goodness D was warned beforehand!
