Interview: FISU head impressed by remarkable efforts in Beijing, Almaty's Winter Olympics bidding

The international governing body for university sports will be happy to see either Beijing or Almaty win the bid for 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Claude-Louis Gallien, President of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"The two cities bidding is very important and very good for us because we try to have the best relations and coordinations with the IOC and the Olympics," said the Frenchman in a pre-Games interview before the 27th World Winter Universiade officially unveiled the Spain part.

As Beijing and Almaty come out the sole pair of candidates for the 2022 Winter Games, Gallien hopes high for the previous and to-be hosts of universiade.

"If Almaty of Kazakhstan obtain the Olympic Games, it will mean to them that it's good to have the 2017 universiade first and the Olympics after," he said.

"If they don't have it, well, I'm quite sure we'll go to Beijing. For us, it's also good."

"It will be great (if Beijing win the bid) since we have University Games in Beijing for summer 2001, in Harbin for the winter 2009, and for summer again in 2011. And if we can go back to Beijing for Winter Games, it will be something really exceptional, what never happened in the same city."

With a reform package of 40 recommendations passed in the IOC session last December in Monaco emphasizing the flexibility, FISU, as an IOC member, got inspired on what they'll do in ruling university sports.

"Our people are very well targeted - students and universities - so it's very easier for us," said Gallien. "Also, we can say we are very flexible already, because we don't have the problems with major sponsors.

"And to finish with, because we are flexible, we'll be able to do what we are doing here, as for the first time we have the winter universiade held in two different countries. It works very well and the students are very happy."

Gallien also believed that Beijing could be inspired from what FISU experienced while solving crisis in holding the recent two editions of Winter Universiade.

"In fact, Universiade was more than any other type of competition. Beside very good sports, we also have education, culture, health, sustainability and innovation," he said.

"Each Universiade as well as each Olympic Games, is one specific case, totally different from one part another," he added.

"Do you realize that here it's the only part of south Europe you can find moutain snow and you can organize things like that. And they (Granada) want to develop, not to be only a tourism for summer, but a tourism for winter. I think you people around Beijing will be interested by this idea." Endi