Almaty upbeat despite losing vote

Organizers of Almaty's unsuccessful bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics vowed to push ahead with their ambitious plan to turn their city into a winter wonderland despite losing out to Beijing.

The Kazakhstan bid team's organizers had hoped that staging the Winter Olympics would put their city on the international sporting map but were adamant the former Soviet state had already achieved that just by throwing its hat in the ring.

"By bidding for the Winter Games we showed the world the amazing progress that Kazakhstan has made since its independence," said Andrey Kryukov, vice-chairman of Almaty's bid team.