WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Friday that his country will strive to host the Summer Olympics for the first time, with a particular eye on the Games in 2040 and 2044.
Tusk was speaking at a sports field in Karczew, a town south of Warsaw, where boys were doing soccer training behind him.
“Poland will formally make efforts to host the Olympic Games. Life will show whether this will be a realistic goal, but we will take it seriously,” Tusk said.
Tusk explained that 2040 and 2044 were the earliest realistic dates, given other hosting decisions made by the IOC.
He said he dedicated the decision to today’s 10, 12, 15-year-olds as he also pledged investments to renovate and expand youth sports training facilities.
“I probably won’t be running around the pitch when the Olympics are in Poland,” said the 67-year-old premier, himself an amateur but avid soccer player. “But I can do a lot over the next few years to make this dream a real project.”
Tusk’s announcement comes after a poor display by Poland at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where the country won only one gold.
His allies in the centrist Civic Platform party welcomed the move, saying it would create opportunities to develop the nation’s sporting infrastructure.
Tusk’s right-wing opponents criticized him, saying other projects deserved more attention.
There was even criticism from the Left, which belongs to his governing coalition.
“A country with one Olympic gold medal. I know that the prime minister likes to build stadiums, but really, maybe first let’s build a decent Olympic team and spend money (rationally) on it, instead of ridiculing ourselves at our own event,” a left-wing lawmaker, Anna Maria Zukowska, tweeted on the X platform.
Poland won 10 medals altogether in Paris and took 42nd place in the overall standings, making it the country’s worst performance since 1956.
Poland has also yet to stage a Winter Olympics, although it did co-host the 2012 European Soccer Championship along with Ukraine.
Standing alongside Tusk, Sports Minister Slawomir Nitras said: “I saw the Games in Paris and I can say that from the organizational side we are able to organize such an event. I think Polish sport is waiting for it.”
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
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