Beijing is set to become the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics after it was chosen to stage the 2022 Winter Olympics Games. International Olympic President Thomas Bach confirmed Beijing, which hosted the Summer Games in 2008, had been chosen ahead of Almaty in Kazakshtan at the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Had Kazakhstan’s pitch been successful it would have become the first central Asian nation to host the Winter Olympics. Now the Olympics will be held three times in a row in east Asia: the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, and 2022 in Beijing.
Facts about Olympics
- The early Olympic Games were celebrated as a religious festival from 776 BC until 393 AD.
- In 1894, a French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin, proposed a revival of the ancient tradition, and thus the modern-day Olympic Summer Games were born.
- The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896.
- The first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France in 1924.
- The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana.
Test Your Knowledge
Which city will host the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2020?
