(ATR) Krakow’s mayor tells Around the Ringsthat the people of the city should decide if Krakow bids for the Olympics.
"I am aware that such an event cannot be organised without the acceptance and support of the public and it is a commonly shared opinion that conducting an opinion poll on the matter is not sufficient," Jacek Majchrowski said in a statement sent to Around the Rings.
"After public consultations and factual discussion on gains and costs of organising Winter Olympic Games, I would like the citizens to be able to democratically provide their input on the matter."
He added: "I hope that the result will be similar to previously carried out opinion polls, where a majority stated they were in favor of this project."
Majchrowski also expressed confidence the citizens of Krakow would back the bid in a press conference on Monday held to publicly unveil the 2022 applicant file. Around a third of the city’s inhabitants would have to take part for the result of the referendum to be valid.
He said any referendum would not be held until after the IOC shortlists candidate cities for the 2022 Games in July. Almaty, Beijing, Lviv and Oslo are also vying to stage the Olympics.
The Kraków 2022 Games plan calls for three venue clusters – Olympic Park, Wisła and Zakopane. Ice and sliding sports would be staged in and around the city with snow sports located in Zakopane and the Tatra region.
Also at Monday’s news conference to talk about the city’s 2022 plan were bid president Jagna Marczułajtis-Walczak and head of the Polish National Olympic Committee, Andrzej Kraśnicki. The Slovak delegation was led by Frantisek Chmelak, president of the Slovak National Olympic Committee.
Jagna Marczułajtis said all athletes and team officials would be accommodated close to the venues at which they will train and compete.
"Under current conditions, the average travel time between the Kraków Olympic Village and the competition venues within the city boundary is 14 minutes, while the average travel time between Zakopane Olympic Village and the Zakopane venues is 16 minutes," she said.
"This is a friendly and compact plan both for the athletes and spectators and we are hoping we will be given the opportunity to welcome the world in the magical city of Kraków in 2022," she added.
Written by Mark Bisson.
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