Ukraine is set to study the possibility of a bid to host a future Olympic Games with the 2030 Winter edition considered the most likely opportunity.
The nation’s Minister of Youth and Sports Vadym Huttsait recently confirmed the plans according national news agency Ukrinform. He said “we are looking at 2030 and 2032.”
The Barcelona 1992 Olympic fencing gold medalist thinks the timing is right, adding “we believe that in 10 years we will have development in our country and we will be able to host the Olympic Games.”
“We are thinking about where to host it [the Olympics] in Ukraine, how much it will cost.
“We are considering more the Winter Olympics.
“We are also discussing the hosting of the Youth Olympic Games, or an ambitious goal – an adult Olympics.”
Ukraine last bid for the Winter Games when the nation nominated Lviv to host in 2022. The bid was later withdrawn due to the continuing political and security crisis following the Russian invasion of Crimea.
The timing of the upcoming host city elections is unclear but is considered months or years away amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) focus on organizing the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games in July and the Beijing 2022 Winter Games just over a year away.
At least four regions are interested in pursuing the 2030 edition including Sapporo in Japan, Pyrenees-Barcelona in Spain, Vancouver in Canada and Salt Lake City in the United States that intends to choose from 2030 or 2034.
A 2032 Summer Games is seen as a more aggressive target with many potential bids already in the race including from Queensland in Australia, Jakarta in Indonesia, Doha in Qatar, Istanbul in Turkey, Unified Korea, India, China and Germany.
As for the Youth Olympics, the next available Summer Games won’t be until 2030 after the Dakar 2022 Games were postponed to 2026 earlier this year; and the next Winter Games available to be hosted will be in 2028.
Ukraine has never hosted an Olympic Games.
