Almaty confident it can host 2022 Winter Olympics

    Leaders of Almaty's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics say most of their venues are already in place and the games would cost a fraction of what Russia spent on Sochi.
    Almaty, one of five candidates for 2022, is bidding for a second time after failing to make the cut for the 2014 Games.
    Bid officials said Thursday that eight of the 12 venues are ready and 10 will be completed by 2017.
    Andrey Kryukov, an executive board member of Kazakhstan's national Olympic body, says Almaty's cost will be "many, many times less" than what was spent on Sochi. Russia's bill of $51 billion covers games costs and long-term regeneration projects.
    The IOC will select a short list of finalists in July and choose the winning city in July 2015.
    The next Winter Olympics will be in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
    Bidding for the 2022 Games are Almaty; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; and Oslo, Norway.