- Beijing was chosen over Almaty, Kazakhstan, the only other city bidding (after 4 European cities dropped out).
- Beijing will be the first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics.
- Criticisms of Beijing as a host are mainly focused on the lack of snow, distance to mountains (farthest skiing venue will be 90 miles outside the city), and human rights concerns.
- Originally the IOC was planning to vote with electronic ballots, but changed to paper ballots at the last minute. According to an IOC official, there were “interferences with changes of tablets” and scrutineers were "not comfortable with the integrity of the vote.”
- Also, Lausanne, Switzerland was selected as the host for the 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games.
ONTD, what are your favorite Olympic moments?