EXPLAINER: So why is Beijing holding another Olympics?

By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Nobody views Beijing as a winter sports capital. So why is the sprawling city holding the Winter Olympics? These Games come just 13 1/2 years after the extravagant 2008 Summer Games in the Chinese capital. There’s a simple answer. Potential hosts in Europe — as many as six including favorites like Norway and Sweden — dropped out of the bidding in the wake of the doping-scandal-ridden 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The $51 billion price tag for Sochi also frightened future bidders. When the IOC voted in 2015 on a host for 2022, the only remaining candidates were Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan. The IOC narrowly picked Beijing in a 44-40.