WARSAW.- The Prime Minister of PolandDonald Tusk announced on Friday that his country will seek to receive the Summer Olympics for the first time and are looking at the 2040 and 2044 games.
Tusk spoke at a sports field in Karczew, a town south of Warsaw, as children trained in football behind him.
“Poland will make formal efforts to host the Olympic Games. Life will show us if this is a realistic goal, but we will take it seriously,” Tusk said.
Tusk said the most realistic dates are 2040 or 2044, given previous IOC decisions on other venues.
He said he dedicated today’s decision to the 10, 12 and 15-year-olds and pledged to invest in renovating and expanding youth training facilities.
“I probably won’t be running on the field when the Olympics take place in Poland,” said the 67-year-old minister, who is an avid amateur soccer player. “But I can do a lot in the coming years to turn this dream into a real project.”
Tusk’s announcement comes after Poland’s poor showing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where the country won just one gold.
His allies from the centrist Civic Platform Party welcomed the decision, which they said would create opportunities to develop the nation’s sports infrastructure.
Detractors
But his right-wing rivals criticised Tusk, saying other projects deserve more attention.
Tusk even faced criticism from the left, which is in coalition with the ruling party.
“A country with an Olympic gold medal. I understand that the prime minister likes to build stadiums, but really, we should first build a decent Olympic team and spend money (rationally) on that, instead of ridiculing ourselves at our own event,” left-wing lawmaker Anna Maria Zukowska wrote on social media X.
Poland finished with 10 medals and 42nd place in the rankings, the country’s worst showing since 1956.
The country has also never hosted the Winter Olympics, although it did co-host the European Football Championship with Ukraine in 2012.
Tusk was joined by Sports Minister Slawomir Nitras, who said: “I watched the Paris Games and I can say that from an organisational point of view we could host such an event. I think Polish sport is looking forward to it.”
