Six cities, including Beijing, bidding for 2022 Winter Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Six cities, including 2008 Summer Games site Beijing, expressed interest being the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the IOC said Friday.

The International Olympic Committee said officials of the six locations filed paperwork before the Thursday midnight deadline to begin the process involved in being chosen the site for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games.

Three cites took part in the site selection for the 2018 Games, which were awarded to Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The cities vying to be the prime site for the 2022 Games are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm, Sweden.

Oslo hosted the Winter Games in 1952. The 1912 Olympic Summer Games were in Stockholm, which also conducted the equestrian events of the 1952 Summer Games, which were mostly contested in Melbourne, Australia.

"I am delighted that six cities are bidding to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games," said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. "These cities and their supporters clearly understand the benefits that hosting the Games can have and the long-lasting legacy that a Games can bring to a region.

"Indeed, while recent Games have left an array of sporting, social, economic and other legacies for the local population, many cities that did not go on to win the right to host the Games have also noted benefits as a result of their bids."

Representatives of the cites will be invited to a seminar Dec. 4-6 in Lausanne, Switzerland, and to participate in an Observer Program at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, as they further prepare their bids.

The selection process is to end July 31, 2015, when the host sire for the 2022 Games is selected.