By Joshua Kucera
Oslo has dropped out of the race to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving only two bidders: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan. And while some still count Beijing as the heavy favorite, Oslo’s refusal has raised hopes – and fears – in Kazakhstan that they will be chosen. “Almaty Almost Certain To Host 2022 Winter Olympics,” went one headline on the website sport.kz.
Since gaining independence two decades ago, Kazakhstan has become rich with oil and gas money, but its international profile remains stuck between “unknown” and “the home of Borat.” A big part of the government’s strategy to raise the country’s profile has been hosting big international events, including the 2011 Asian Winter Games and the 2017 Winter Universiade. But the Olympics would be by far the country’s biggest coup.
“After holding the Games in Almaty it will no longer necessary to explain what and where is Kazakhstan,” said Aydar Makhmetov, a spokesman for the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, which has taken a lead role in promoting the Olympic bid. Winning the bid, he said in an interview October 7, “would forever fix Almaty on the world map and would be a powerful impulse for the development not just of the city, but of all Kazakhstan. This is a goal that can unite the entire nation in a single patriotic impulse.”
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