The idea of hosting the Olympic Games has resurfaced in Czech politics after Boris Šťastný, the country’s minister responsible for sport, prevention and health, said he could imagine the event taking place in the Czech Republic.

He indicated a clear preference for the Winter Games and suggested cooperation with Slovakia.

As reported by Aktuálně, the minister said the earliest realistic timelines would be around 2038 or 2040. He argued that the country already has enough sports infrastructure to avoid excessive new construction, a key concern in past Olympic bids.

Recent Olympic costs remain part of the discussion. According to media estimates, the Winter Games currently being staged in Italy required roughly €1.7 billion, or more than 41 billion Czech crowns.

Šťastný said such figures do not discourage him, stressing that smaller-scale Winter Games could be more manageable.

The minister also plans to raise the subject politically and publicly. He said talks with Slovak counterparts could revive earlier regional ambitions, recalling past Slovak interest in hosting the Winter Olympics in the High Tatras.

Olympic ambitions are not new domestically. The city of Prague once pursued a Summer Games bid under former mayor Pavel Bém of the ODS, targeting the 2016 Games.

The proposal failed to reach the shortlist and later plans focusing on 2020 faced public skepticism, with critics questioning costs and priorities.

Budget pressures ultimately halted preparations in 2009, and the organizing company created for the project was dissolved a few years later.

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