Street protests in Ukraine have shown little sign of abating despite the new Parliamentary law...but Sergey Bubka is confident support for Lviv 2022 remains unaffected
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Bubka was speaking here following celebrations to mark Asia's sporting century, and he hailed the world's largest continent as an "amazing area", which Lviv would do well to emulate.

He suggested how the "unique power of sport" will help Lviv's bid in the same way that it has helped progress in Asia.

"The people and the leaders of our country see the potential that hosting the Games will bring to the nation - it is positive and very important for our country," he told insidethegames, before citing roads and infrastructure as two particular areas where benefits could be found.

"When you have big events like Euro 2012 it allows people to discover Ukraine.

"And when people visit and see our hospitality, culture, cuisine and cities, they really like it.

"Sport gives us a way to present our country and open it to the world - this is the amazing power of sport and it is important for our country to host major events and especially in 2022."

To make this point Bubka drew a comparison with the decision to keep the Asian centenary celebrations in the Philippines despite the ongoing repercussions of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck last November. 

He described how "it is very important to show solidarity and be positive", and that everyone must "work together and be united through sport".

But he also emphasised how Lviv 2022 would bring many competitive improvements in Ukraine - which he sees as a "very sporting nation" but one historically focused on summer rather than winter disciplines.

"The Ukrainian region traditionally produced around 30-40 per cent of Soviet Olympic teams, and won a similar proportion of the medals," he said.

"We had some success in biathlon and figure skating, and later on in freestyle skiing, but the main legacy of the Games would be developing winter sports further, and in particular developing the venues.

"The Carpathian Mountains, for example, would be an excellent venue for winter as well as summer sports after 2022."

Ukrainian athletes have long thrived in summer sports, including in Sergey Bubka's very own discipline of the pole vault, but it is hoped that Lviv 2022 would enable winter improvements as well ©Getty Images


It is certainly an interesting time in the fledgling race for the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics and - following the recent withdrawal of Stockholm - Lviv now faces opposition from just the four cities of Almaty, Beijing, Kraków and Oslo.

Bubka hailed all the "good applicant cities" but also stressed that Lviv has "a very good team which will work very hard", before looking ahead to next month's Games in Sochi as an opportunity to learn more about both the bidding and hosting process.