Harbin has Potential for Hosting Winter Olympics: IOC Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 03, 2002

Harbin has Potential for Hosting Winter Olympics: IOC Official

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Despite failing to make the shortlist of candidates to stage the 2010 Winter Olympics, Harbin is believed to have potential for hosting international sporting events, He Zhenliang, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board, said Tuesday in Beijing.

The IOC selected Bern, Switzerland; Salzburg, Austria; Vancouver, Canada; and Pyeongchang, South Korea on August 28 as official candidates for the event, while eliminated from the race were Andorra La Vella, Andorra; Harbin, China; Jaca, Spain, and Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The selection was made by a secret ballot of the IOC executive board after reviewing an evaluation of the IOC working group on the eight bid cities.

He, who attended the IOC executive board meeting held on August27-29 in Lausanne, Switzerland, said the IOC rejected Harbin's bidout of three major concerns.

"Geography didn't favor Harbin as Beijing will host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games," said He.

"If Harbin had been granted the right, organizers could only start carrying out the marketing program for the 2010 Winter Games after the Beijing Olympics. Two years may not be enough to ensure a marketing success."

He said a lack of adequate skiing venues was another drawback of Harbin.

"The Yabuli skiing resort is a little bit far from Harbin, which would cause some inconvenience for people to watch the competitions," he said.

The Yabuli skiing resort, the projected competition venue in Harbin's bid, is located 200 kilometers away from the Chinese northeastern city.

The IOC was also concerned about the weather conditions in Harbin, according to He.

"Although Harbin is in the high-latitude area, it lacks snow in winter," said the 73-year-old He.

As the biggest city of the eight bidders, however, Harbin has potential for staging international sporting events, said He.

"The IOC gave a thumbs-up to Harbin's bidding report and was convinced that Harbin has great potential," he added.

Earlier, Harbin has vowed to try again for the 2014 event after being cut from the bid list.

"Our work to bid for the Winter Olympic Games will continue on," said Wang Zuoshu, the vice governor of Heilongjiang province.

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