2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Seoul. First, the Greek flag was raised while its anthem played. The Olympic flag was then lowered and passed, by the mayor of Pyeongchang County, Shim Jae-kook, to IOC President, Thomas Bach, who then handed it over to the mayor of Beijing, Chen Jining. This was then followed by the raising of the flag of China, and the playing of its anthem. The flag will be raised again in Tokyo, Japan, for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics on 24 July 2020. Beijing, the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, presented a special performance "See
Almaty bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics was the only contender to have never hosted the Olympics before. Almaty previously hosted the 2017 Winter Universiade. On 29 November 2011, Almaty was chosen to host the 2017 Winter Universiade. The city also co-hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games with Astana, the capital since 1997. It can be seen as preparation for hosting the Winter Olympic Games in the future. Kazakhstan had been considering a bid for these games since 2011. On 17 August 2013, Almaty, the former capital city and still the largest city and financial centre of the country, confirmed their bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic