(ATR) The head of Almaty’s Olympic bid tells Around the Rings the Kazakh city has to "work hard" to deliver on its promise.
The IOC last week selected Almaty as a candidate city for the 2022 Games along with Beijing and Oslo.
"The feeling is wonderful, great. We were expecting this. We are really happy,"Almaty’s bid leader Zauresh Amanzholova told ATR in an exclusive interview.
Asked about the challenges for Almaty in the 12-month build-up to the voteat the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, she said, "We need to work hard oninfrastructure. In Almaty, we have to make it much better."
Amanzholova, who is deputy mayor of Almaty, pointed to the construction work being carried out for the 2017 Summer Universiade in Almaty.
"So we will improve the city and infrastructure very much for the Universiade, and 80 percent of all our sports venues will be ready in 2017," she said.
Speaking about other challenges facing the bid, she said a massive PR effort was required to raise the profile of Almaty and Kazakhstan globally – in particular to the IOC membership.
"We are moving step by step. We hosted the Asian Games in 2011. Now we will host the Universiade, and now we need the Winter Games in 2022," she added.
Amanzholova acknowledged the view in some quarters that Almaty may be emerging as the frontrunner in the bidding contest, partly due to lack of government guarantees for Oslo and the problem for Beijing of persuading the IOC to vote for a third Asian Games in a row.
But she said Almaty was up against strong competition because both Beijing and Oslo had previous Olympic experience.
"We will be ready. We are sure it will be a tough fight," she said. "For us, the fact we are already a candidate is already great."
The IOC’s working group report on the 2022 cities, a 68-page technical analysis of the bidding applications submitted in March, identifies the scale of the task facing Almaty.
Areas of concern include the Olympic Village concept and legacy plan, financing of the International Broadcast Centre, and Almaty’s lack of experience in hosting international events in Olympic winter sports. Limited accommodation options for spectators in the bid book are also an issue for the IOC.
Last week, Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli said the IOC was ready to offer advice and assistance to Almaty to help the city refine and strengthen its bid during the candidate city phase.
Written by Mark Bisson
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