Beijingwasawardedthehostingrightstothe2022WinterOlympicsonFriday,settinguptheChinesecapitaltobecomethefirstcitytostageboththeSummerandWinterGames.周五,中国首都北京获得了2022年冬季奥运会的主办权,它将成为世界上首个同时举办过夏季和冬季奥运会的城市。MembersoftheInternationalOlympicCommittee,whichisholdingitsannualcongressinKualaLumpur,Malaysia,thisweek,votedinfavorofBeijing,whichhostedtheSummerOlympicsin2008,overitslonecompetitor,Almaty,Kazakhstan.Thevotewas44to40,amarginthatwasfarsmallerthanmanyobservershadpredictedgiventhefamiliarityofChineseorganizerswithvotersandtherelativeanonymityofAlmatyinthesportingcommunity.本周正在吉隆坡举办年度全体会议的国际奥委会(InternationalOlympicCommittee,简称IOC)成员进行了最后投票,曾在2008年举办夏季奥运会的北京以44:40的微弱优势战胜了唯一的对手——哈萨克斯坦的阿拉木图。这一差距远远小于此前许多观察人士的预计,考虑到IOC成员对中国主办方的熟悉程度,而阿拉木图不太为人所知。Whilemanynations,includingtheUnitedStates,havehostedboththeSummerandWinterGames,nosinglecityhadbeenabletopersuadeI.O.C.votersthatithadtherequisiteinfrastructure,financialresourcesandclimatenecessarytopulloffsuchadouble.虽然包括美国在内的很多国家都同时举办过夏季和冬季奥运会,但没有哪个城市曾说服IOC投票者相信,它拥有举办这两种赛事必不可少的基础设施、财力资源和气候条件。中国张家口,当地民众在广场上排练庆祝北京赢得申奥的舞蹈。JasonLee/Reuters中国张家口,当地民众在广场上排练庆祝北京赢得申奥的舞蹈。Beijing,itshouldbenoted,didnotnecessarilydothat,either,butitwonoverthedelegateswithanelaborateplanthatusessomewell-knownvenuesfromtheSummerGames,includingtheBird’sNeststadiumandtheWaterCubearena,inadditiontorelyingonanelaborateartificialsnow-makingoperationtoaccountforthefactthatitssurroundingregionhasfewmountainsand,generally,fewerinchesofactualsnow.需要指出的是,北京也未必具备所有这些条件,但它以一份周密的计划书赢得了代表们的信任。这份计划书显示,除了依靠人工造雪来解决北京周边地区山脉少且降雪相对匮乏这样一个现实问题,他们将重复利用北京夏季奥运会的一些知名场馆,包括鸟巢和水立方。Nonetheless,Beijinghaspresentedthe2022Gamesasacatalysttohelpdevelopthemostlydormantinterestinwintersportsamongthe300millionpeopleinnorthernChina.Chinahasalreadycreatedaspecialprogram,saidtohavecostroughly$30million,thatisdesignedtoproduceathletesinsportswithlittlehistoryinthecountry,likeNordiccombinedskiingandtheslidingsportsluge,skeletonandbobsled.而且,北京显示,要把2022年奥运会当作催化剂,帮助中国北方地区的3亿人口发展对冬季运动的兴趣,此前,他们中的大多数人较少展开相关运动。中国已经创建了一个特别项目,据说要花费约3000万美元(约合1.86亿人民币)培养在中国发展历史比较短的运动项目的运动员,比如北欧混合式滑雪、无舵雪橇、有舵雪橇和钢架雪橇运动。“SummerorWinterGames,theyallrepresenttheOlympicideals,”YaoMing,theformerN.B.A.starwhoretiredin2011,saidatanewsconferencebeforethevote.“It’stherighttime,theperfecttime,fortheOlympicstoreturntoBeijing.”不管是夏季还是冬季奥运会,它都代表着奥林匹克的体育精神,2011年退役的前NBA球员姚明在IOC进行投票之前的一个新闻发布会上说道。他还表示,奥林匹克重回北京,现在正是时候,这个时机再好不过。Beijingplanstostagetheso-calledcityevents—hockey,figureskatingandspeedskating—downtown,whiletheslidingandskiingeventswillbeheldatvenuesinYanqingandZhangjiakou,about40and90milesoutsideBeijing.Aplannedhigh-speedraillinetoZhangjiakouissupposedtocuttraveltimetolessthananhour,thoughChineseorganizers—nodoubtwaryoftheI.O.C.’srenewedsensitivitytoskyrocketingOlympicbudgets—havesaidrepeatedlythattherailprojectshouldbeseenasseparatefromtheOlympicbid.北京计划在市区举办冰球、花样滑冰和速度滑冰这几项所谓的城市项目,而将雪橇和滑雪项目放在延庆和张家口的一些场馆举行,这些场馆分别位于北京以外40和90英里(后者约合145公里)远的地方。一个计划中的高铁项目将使北京和张家口两地的路程缩小到1小时之内,尽管中国主办方已经反复表示,这个高铁项目应该被视为独立于冬奥之外的建设项目。他们显然知道IOC再度对奥运会预算飞涨比较敏感,十分警惕自己有此嫌疑。Eitherway,thereisnodenyingthatBeijing’shostingmodelinvolvestwodistinctvenueclusterswithsignificantdistancebetweenthem.Almaty,ontheotherhand,hadattemptedtopositionitselfastheoppositetowhatitsuggestedwasBeijing’smanufacturedbid—Almaty’ssloganwas,pointedly,“KeepingItReal”—andtheformerKazakhcapitalcitedthecompactnatureofitscity.Italsofrequentlynotedthatitsnearbymountainswerecoveredwithgenuinesnow.无论如何,北京的冬奥会的运作都必然涉及在两个距离相当远的不同场馆集中地举办赛事。而在另一边,阿拉木图此前一直试图将自己定位为北京策略的对立面。它暗示北京的策略过多强调人为因素。阿拉木图的申奥口号相当尖锐,是“保持真实”,这个前哈萨克斯坦首都指出自己的城市特征是小巧紧凑,还反复强调其周边山峦上覆盖着天然积雪。AllthevenuesinAlmaty,organizerssaid,wouldhavebeenwithinan18-mileradius,and70percentofthenecessaryvenueswereinplacebeforethevote,allowingtheAlmatyinfrastructurebidtobebasedaroundatotalbudgetof$6billion.Beijing’sbudgetisexpectedtobemuchlarger,althoughitsorganizersrepeatedlystatedthatthecombinedcostswereabout$3billion—afigurethatdoesnotinclude,forexample,thecostofthehigh-speedrailline.阿拉木图主办方表示,他们的所有场地都在18英里半径范围内,而70%的必备场馆在IOC投票之前都已存在,这使得他们举办冬奥会的基础设施预算总计只有大约60亿美元。北京的预算预计要大得多,尽管主办方反复申明,其合并成本为30亿美元,而这一数字没有包含那条高铁线路和其他一些项目的造价。ThecostofhostinganOlympicshasbecomearecurrenttalkingpointforThomasBach,theI.O.C.president.OneofMr.Bach’sprimaryinitiatives,knownasOlympicAgenda2020,isessentiallyanoverhaulofthebiddingprocess.Thegoalistoforcecitiestolowerinfrastructurecosts—andthusbroadenthepoolofpotentialbidcities—butalsotomeetbasichumanrightsconditionsbeforetheywillbefullyconsidered.举办奥运会的费用已经成为IOC主席托马斯·巴赫(ThomasBach)一再谈起的话题。他提出的主要计划之一《奥林匹克2020议程》(OlympicAgenda2020)实质上是对申奥程序的一次全面改革。它的目标是迫使申办城市降低基础设施费用——由此也增加潜在申办城市数量,同时促使它们在被真正纳入考虑范畴之前能满足基本的人权状况要求。ThiselectionwasthefinalonebeforetherulesoftheAgenda2020programtakeeffect,andmanycriticsofthebiddingprocessnotedthatitwas,inmanyways,afittingcoda.BiddingfortheWinterOlympics,whicharebothsignificantlysmallerandlesspopularthantheSummerGames,hasalwaysbeendifficult,butthisracewasparticularlyrocky.这次申奥活动是《奥林匹克2020议程》计划生效之前的最后一届,很多对这次申办过程提出批评的人士指出,它在很多方面都可以说是一个恰当的结尾。冬奥会规模较小,也没有夏季奥运会那么受欢