Ukraine the latest entry into the bid process to host the 2030 Winter Olympics

Ukraine joins the list of countries bidding to host the Winter Olympics in 2030.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky informed IOC President Thomas Bach of his country’s plans during their meeting in Kiev over the weekend.

Zelensky said Ukraine will enter into the dialogue phase in the bidding process with the IOC and will send a delegation to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne as soon as possible.

Around the Rings has learned that the Ukraine NOC will devise a detailed cities, site and venue plan after the meeting with the IOC. There are a number of possible cities and regions interested in hosting an Olympics.

It is also yet to be finalized if the country will bid for 2030 or a later Games.

The IOC said that Bach warmly welcomed the initiative “given the great sports tradition of Ukraine, and after having seen a very impressive presentation of the most recent sports and sports infrastructure in the country”.

Besides meeting with Zelensky, Bach was in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the country’s National Olympic Committee.

Sergey Bubka, IOC member in Ukraine and president of the country’s NOC, tells ATR that they will take advantage of the IOC’s Agenda 2020+5 in terms of the flexibility among cities and countries.

For example, Ukraine does not have a venue for the sliding sports of bobsled, luge and skeleton. Given the IOC’s preference for bidders to use existing venues, Bubka hinted that the sliding events could be held in another country.

The Ukrainian city of Lviv was a candidate to host the 2022 Winter Games but pulled out in 2014 due to a political and security crisis in the country at the time. The IOC awarded Beijing the Games over Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2015.

Salt Lake City, Sapporo, Vancouver and Barcelona-Pyrenees appear to be the most serious candidates for 2030 at this point in the process. All four still have hurdles to clear before they can officially be considered by the IOC.

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