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Poland sets stage for Warsaw 2040 Olympic Games bid with comprehensive new strategy

Poland's Ministry of Sport and Tourism minister Sławomir Nitras aims to develop new plans for sport development in the nation that will position it for an Olympic bid by 2026

Poland's Minister of Sport and Tourism Sławomir Nitras presents Warsaw 2040 Sports Development Strategy at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in the capital October 25, 2024 (© Poland Ministry of Sport and Tourism)
Poland’s Minister of Sport and Tourism Sławomir Nitras presents Warsaw 2040 Sports Development Strategy at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in the capital October 25, 2024 (© Poland Ministry of Sport and Tourism)

Poland jumped into the Olympic bid race Friday, bypassing the highly contended 2036 campaign to instead vie for the subsequent 2040 edition.

Dubbed ‘Warsaw 2040’, a strategy presented by Poland’s Ministry of Sport and Tourism minister Sławomir Nitras aims to develop new plans for sport development in the nation that will position it for an Olympic bid. By increasing investment in infrastructure, coaching and grassroots development Nitras hopes to catch the eyes of International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executives when they choose a 2040 host.

The Ministry has opened public tenders for the planning work that’s expected to be completed in early 2026. If successful, the Minister hopes to open an official dialogue with the IOC to bid for the 2040 Games in the capital.

“We need to build a national strategy for the development of sports,” Nitras told a group of over 200 sports executives, Olympians and Paralympians at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Warsaw while presenting plans.

“This strategy is called Warsaw 2040, but in reality it is not a strategy for organizing the games, it is a strategy for changing Polish sports in such a way that the Games in Poland are possible. We do not have financial barriers. We have organizational, structural, certain infrastructural and social barriers that we need to overcome to move forward.”

Poland re-enters Olympic bid race, now targeting 2040 or 2044

According to the Ministry, Poland spends nearly one percent of its budget on sport and Nitras argues this should be sufficient to position the nation for the Games.

“This is really big money,” he said.

“So we can ask the question, not whether we can afford the games, but why we couldn’t afford the games until now. We have really good budgets, but we spend this money inefficiently and this is the task that lies ahead of us. In terms of money spent on sports from public funds, we are not far behind wealthy European countries.”

At the Paris 2024 Games Poland won a single gold medal with four silver and five bronze marking its most lackluster performance in decades.

Poland co-hosted the 2012 Euro Cup with Ukraine and more recently the Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games.

Polish tennis player Magda Linette said that although hosting the Olympic Games in Poland will be a big challenge, “with the right determination, anything is possible.”

Poland has never bid to host the Summer Games, but twice applied to host the Winter Games. Krakow was forced to withdraw its 2022 bid after a public referendum was lost and Beijing defeated Almaty, Kazakhstan to host. A 2006 bid by Zakopane was left off the final ballot while the IOC was reeling from the aftermath of the Salt Lake City bribery scandal and chose only Turin, Italy and Sion, Switzerland for the final vote – the former going on to host.

Germany, UK and Spain have expressed interest in bidding for the 2040 Games, but several nations are involved in continuous dialogue with the IOC to host in 2036 and those that are unsuccessful could spill over to the following Games. These include Istanbul in Türkiye, India, Indonesia, Santiago in Chile, Seoul in South Korea, Denmark, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Egypt and South Africa are positioning for either 2036 or 2040 in their attempts to be the first-ever African hosts.

There is no set timeline for election of hosts but the IOC is already actively in discussions for the 2036 Games with the possibility of narrowing down to one or more preferred candidates in 2026 or 2027. The 2040 Games will be awarded later, or possibly as part of a double allocation with 2036 according to the whims of IOC Executives. In July the IOC awarded the 2030 Winter Games to French Alps, the 2034 edition to Salt Lake City and promised 2038 to Switzerland if they meet set conditions by the end of 2027.

A senior producer and award-winning journalist covering Olympic bid business as founder of GamesBids.com as well as providing freelance support for print and Web publications around the world. Robert Livingstone is a member of the Olympic Journalists Association and the International Society of Olympic Historians.

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