2022 Winter Games Vote Down to Two Cities

‍‍When the International Olympic Committee gathers Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to name a host for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, it will have a curious choice. Cities closely associated with winter sports, like Oslo and Stockholm, have fallen by the wayside, leaving only two unconventional finalists.

Beijing, the favorite, is bidding to become the first city to hold both the Winter and Summer Games. Almaty, Kazakhstan, the other candidate, hopes to put itself on the international sporting map with a long-shot bid.

Whichever city wins for 2022, after the 2016 Rio Summer Games, the next three Games will be held in Asia, including the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the 2020 Games in Tokyo.