2022 Olympic Winter Games

Lviv, Ukraine has withdrawn its bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The decision was reached after discussions between Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and Sergey Bubka, president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

“The preliminary evaluation by the IOC’s working group found that the Lviv bid offered huge potential for future development,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “In my discussions with the Ukrainian Prime Minster and NOC president, we concluded that it would be extremely difficult to pursue the 2022 bid under the current circumstances, but that a future bid would make sense for Ukraine and Ukrainian sport.”

The decision to withdraw came as a result of Ukraine’s present political and economic circumstances, but all parties have agreed that Lviv will turn its attention to an Olympic bid for 2026.

Three cities are still in the running to host the 2022 Winter Games: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing, China; and Olso, Norway.