Poland and Slovakia backed a joint bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics on Wednesday, "hoping to win the first Games for the two central European countries," according to Jan Lopatka of REUTERS. The countries' prime ministers announced the bid after meeting in the Slovak town of Poprad, at the foot of the Tatra Mountains "where alpine skiing disciplines would be held to make up for a lack of suitable terrain in mostly flat Poland." Slovak PM Robert Fico said, "We have a clear vision. We are not interested in any megalomania." Fico "brushed aside questions" about whether the costs of hosting the games would be justified, "especially as the euro zone struggles with its lengthy debt crisis." Fico: "We have crisis now. Should we crawl under the table? When we have crisis, we should not think about the future, ignore any chances that come up?" (REUTERS, 3/27). The AP reported under the proposal, the hub "would be Poland's historic city of Krakow, with most snow events in the Tatra mountain resorts of Zakopane." Jasna "would host Alpine skiing in Slovakia." Polish PM Donald Tusk said after meeting Fico in Poprad that a joint bid has "an extraordinary chance" to succeed (AP, 3/27).
