The Russian army is on its doorstep and the war is still threatening, but Ukraine is not giving up on its Olympic plans. Sports Minister Vadym Huttsait took advantage of the end of the Beijing Games to reiterate the government’s desire to compete for the Winter Games in 2030. “We have inadequate infrastructure for winter sports, but we are working on it, he told the Ukrainian parliament. We are now looking at how to start and conduct the Winter Olympics in Ukraine in 2030.” The Ukrainian minister is clear that with eight years to go, the major obstacle to a successful Ukrainian project is not political, but related to the country’s lack of Olympic-standard infrastructure. Ukraine’s last attempt to host the Winter Games, for the 2022 edition, had already been halted by tensions with Russia. The project led by Lviv withdrew from the race for the Games in 2022 when Russian forces invaded Crimea. Ukraine’s new bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic event is supported by the head of state, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He confirmed the country’s plans to Thomas Bach at a meeting in Kiev last September.
