History of the Slovak Houses

The tradition of establishing Slovak Houses at major sporting events started in Atlanta, USA, in 1996. One year later, the Slovak House premiered at the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Sestriere, Italy. The Slovak Houses first served to support the candidacy of Poprad-Tatry for the 2006 Winter Olympics, but they were met with such a positive response that interest in establishing them at all summer and winter Olympic Games has endured up to the present.

The Slovak House became more prominent in the public during the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. Aside from Slovak athletes and official guests, it was also visited by Czech hockey players, who even celebrated their first ever Olympic gold medal there. The Slovak House has more than once hosted distinguished visitors. At the Olympics in Salt Lake City, USA, in 2002, the Prince of Monaco discovered it and later Prince Albert II of Monaco. After this special experience, visiting the Slovak national stand became a tradition for him, which he has continued during all subsequent Olympic Games.

Prominent members of the International Olympic Committee and politicians regularly visit the premises of the Slovak House, too. In 2016, the Slovak House was jointly opened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by the presidents of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Andrej Kiska and Miloš Zeman. Two years later in Gangneung, South Korea, Andrej Kiska and Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis did the honours. At the 2012 London Olympics, the Slovak House acquired a truly prestigious address. It was located in the historic Institute of Directors building, which is owned by the British royal family, on Pall Mall SW1. The centre of London was an ideal place for Slovakia to interact with the world. Only invited visitors were allowed to enter then, but cultural performances for the public were held in the nearby Sports Café.

While almost all Slovak Houses were located in the centres of the host Olympic cities, at the 2014 Winter Olympics, visitors could come across a small piece of Slovakia at the Adler railway station in Sochi. The 2014 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee had unrealistic financial requirements for leasing space at the venue, so the organisers of the house made use of an opportunity to acquire space at the new railway terminal. Instead of being called the Slovak House, the stand there was called Slovak Point.

During the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the Slovak House was located in a rented restaurant on Sorol Street in the city of Gangneung. The following two Olympic Games – in Tokyo (2021) and Beijing (2022) – were marked by the pandemic, so Slovakia, like many other countries, could not open its representative house.

The Slovak House tradition was revived at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where the new Slovak Olympic House – Maison Slovaque – was located in the Park of Nations (La Villette) and was open to the public throughout the games.

Slovak Houses are a place for friendly meetings and networking during the Olympic Games. Dozens of business contracts between Slovak and foreign companies have been signed in their premises. The Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee invites members of the International Olympic Committee and international sports federations to meetings there and also negotiates with other national Olympic committees.

Slovak Houses help to present Slovakia as a country where sport has a tradition and an important position. At the same time, they are a place to celebrate Slovak Olympic successes.