Selection of New Krakow Bid Leader Likely This Week

Around the Rings is told Krakow 2022 will likely select a new bid leader this week following the resignation of Jagna Marczulajtis-Walczak over a bribery scandal.

The remaining organizers will hold an extraordinary assembly on Thursday to discuss naming a successor.

Marczulajtis-Walczak was in good spirits on Thursday when ATR spoke to her about Krakow’s bid campaign in Belek, site of SportAccord. Two days later, she was forced to quit following allegations that her husband, Andrzej Walczak, had tried to influence positive coverage of her in exchange for cash, reportedly at SportAccord.

Saying she wasn't aware but regretted her husband’s actions, Marczulajtis-Walczak accused the Polish media of mounting a "smear campaign" against her and criticized the "unfavorable media climate" surrounding the Olympic bid.

Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised Marczulajtis-Walczak in a statement on Sunday.

"I have been following her actions furthering the cause of [hosting] the Olympics – to a certain extent Jagna was the originator of this ambitious project.

"She has been working selflessly and been very committed to the project."

Commenting about the media hostility directed at the bid leader, Tusk added that "not everybody has been able to come to terms with the fact that it was Jagna Marczułajtis who was the leader of this project: since [its] very conception I have been hearing people saying that that she shouldn’t [be the one doing it] and quite possibly, generally speaking, women in the higher echelons of sports have bad luck.

"I am not dismissing a possibility that Jagna Marczułajtis fell victim to the fact that the Olympics became [too] real."

Contacted by ATR on Monday, Marczulajtis-Walczak sounded deflated in the wake of events that triggered her departure as bid leader. She was the only female leader among the five applicant cities for the 2022 Winter Games.

Declining to comment on the scandal, she held out hope that her resignation would not damage Krakow’s bid.

"I really believe Krakow still has a chance for the Olympics. In spite of my resignation, I still think they can do it," she told ATR.

Marczulajtis-Walczak and Krakow 2022 indicated that a decision on a new bid leader may come this week.

The swift appointment of her replacement seems vital to the Polish city’s Olympic ambitions, to maintain the momentum built up since Krakow handed over its applicant file to the IOC last month.

The bid campaign faces a critical milestone in May when a referendum is held to gauge the support of Krakow voters for an Olympics.

Almaty, Beijing, Lviv and Oslo are also vying the 2022 Games.The IOC Executive Board will shortlist candidate cities at its meeting in July.

Written by Mark Bisson.

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