Polish PM Tusk aims to host Summer Olympics in 2040 or 2044

WARSAW, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Friday that his country is aiming to host the Summer Olympics for the first time, with a view to hosting the Games in 2040 and 2044.

Tusk was giving a speech on a sports field in Karczew, a town south of Warsaw, where boys were playing football behind him.

“Poland will make formal efforts to host the Olympic Games. Life will tell whether this is a realistic goal, but we will take it seriously,” Tusk said.

Tusk explained that 2040 and 2044 were the earliest realistic dates given the IOC’s other host decisions.

He said he was dedicating the decision to the current 10-, 12- and 15-year-olds and also promised investment to renovate and expand youth sports training facilities.

“I probably won’t be running around on the pitch when the Olympics are in Poland,” said the 67-year-old prime minister, himself an amateur but avid footballer. “But I can do a lot in the coming years to make this dream a real project.”

Tusk’s announcement follows Poland’s poor performance at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where the country won just one gold medal.

His allies in the centrist Civic Platform party welcomed the move, saying it would create opportunities to develop the country’s sports infrastructure.

Right-wing opponents of Tusk criticized him, arguing that other projects deserved more attention.

There was even criticism from the left, which is part of his governing coalition.

“A country with one Olympic gold medal. I know the PM likes to build stadiums, but let’s first put together a decent Olympic team and spend money on it (rationally), instead of making fools of ourselves at our own event,” tweeted a left-wing lawmaker, Anna Maria Zukowska, on the X platform.

In total, Poland won 10 medals in Paris and finished 42nd overall, the country’s worst performance since 1956.

Poland has not yet hosted the Winter Olympics, but it did host the 2012 European Football Championship together with Ukraine.

Sports Minister Slawomir Nitras said alongside Tusk: “I saw the Games in Paris and I can say that from an organizational point of view we are capable of hosting such an event. I think Polish sport is waiting for it.”