Harbin China won a landslide victory in its bid to host the 24th Winter Universiade in 2009, beating its rival Erzurum Turkey.
And now the city is hoping that hosting the Universiade will put the city in a position to win the bid for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Harbin lost its bid for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in 2002.
Zhao Yinggang, director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Sports Bureau said, “hosting the Winter Universiade is necessary for bidding for the Winter Olympic Games again. It will be a bonus in helping develop winter sports in China, and the experience of organizing such an international sports event will be valuable for future preparations”.
Zhao said after losing the Olympic bid the provincial sports and education bureaus decided to bid for the Universiade in order to help prepare for a new Olympic bid.
An estimated $1.3 billion (U.S.) will be invested for infrastructure construction and renovation, and another $20 million will be allotted to organize the Universiade Games.
