Bid City Blog-- Quality Madrid Bid, Elusive Motivation

Great Plans, “Spiritual Legacy” for Madrid Bid

The Madrid bid for the 2016 Olympics is every bit as good as its rivals in the race when venues are the measure – maybe better. With more than 70 percent of the venues existing, Madrid was able to show the IOC commission a plan for the Games that is well under way.

That venue plan, coupled with an enviable public transit system, hotels and other tourist amenities makes it easy to see why the bid must be taken seriously.

But when bid leaders held a 45-minute press conference at the end of the visit that failed to mention even once the word "athletes," you have to wonder whether Madrid is serious about serving sport – or simply raising something the mayor calls a "happiness index" for the city.

Indeed, with him bragging that this index is already high, it sounds like the Madrid bid is just a project to keep the voters of the city satisfied with the leadership of Gallardon and his municipal government.

Asked at the press conference how the Olympics would affect the city, Gallardon explains that the benefits would be intangible; a "spiritual" benefit is how he described it.

Media Interest High in Madrid

Domestic media interest for the Madrid bid would seem to be almost as high as it was in Japan for the Tokyo bid last month. Press conferences were well-attended, with major events such as the venue tour or the closing press conference drawing about 100. That turnout puts the Madrid bid behind Tokyo, but ahead of Chicago and Rio de Janeiro.

Alone among the 2016 bids, Madrid erected a marquee adjacent to the IOC hotel as a press center for the meetings. Generally sufficient, the air conditioned tent hit the straining point of capacity for a couple of the press conferences.

While the other three bids kept the wraps on their official hospitality event for the IOC, limiting the number of media who could attend the photo opportunity, for Madrid the doors to the Royal Palace were literally flung open to the media horde. Photographer or not, press were invited to the palace to watch King Juan Carlos and his family greet the IOC and guests for the luncheon on the final day.

English a Secondary Language

Madrid 2016 says it delivered its presentations to the IOC in English, but when it came time to meet the press, Spanish was the rule, except for the occasional question in English put to bid CEO Mercedes Coghen. Press conferences in the other cities were all hosted by an English speaker (even in Chicago!) but Madrid chose an un-hosted format. Simultaneous translation was high quality, but it is clear from Madrid’s style of presentation that if awarded the Games, the official IOC languages of English and French would take second place to Spanish. Not too much of a surprise for a bid among whose various taglines is Games for the Latin and Mediterranean world.

In Tokyo, where a Paralympian impressed the media and the IOC with his tale of practicing English for weeks ahead of the Evaluation Commission visit, there would be no such examples of striving to cross cultural barriers for the Madrillenos.

Keeping to the Point

Maybe Madrid 2016 wasn’t intent on welcoming the world in the official languages of the IOC, but the press conference speakers largely kept to the point and did not steal the stage with unending monologues. Madrid organizers brought many politicians to the podium who also presented to the IOC commission. They briefly covered the highlights of their remarks to the IOC and then took questions.

The mayor of Madrid, deputy Manuel Cobo, Coghen, IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jr. and NOC President Alejandro Blanco made regular appearances before the press corps. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met with reporters on day one of the IOC visit.

Samaranch, Sr. Stays Low Key

Former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch came to Madrid for the final day of the IOC visit, more a show of moral support for the bid instead of speaking for the bid.

“I’m not very active,” he tells Around the Rings, his son, who is active with the bid, sitting alongside him.

Samaranch says that with three Olympic sports federations (canoeing, field hockey and triathlon) led by Spaniards, “Spanish sport is in the first category of countries,” when measuring worldwide prestige.

Evaluation Report Wields Influence

The IOC Evaluation Commission report to be issued on Sep. 2 will be influential in the vote for the host city, insists chair Nawal El Moutawakel.

“We are the eyes and ears of the IOC members. Of course our report is very important,” she said at the final press conference, noting that the commission had dedicated itself to understanding every aspect of the bid during its Madrid visit last week. She says the report, which highlights the strengths and risks of Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, would allow IOC members to make informed decisions.

El Moutawakel was responding to a reporter who questioned the purpose of the evaluation report, which is publicly released a month before the IOC Session votes on the 2016 city.

Bid City Trends

After completing the four-city tour of the 2016 candidate cities, Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli noted a few trends that have emerged in the pitches to the IOC commission.

Felli told the closing press conference he was impressed by the “level of the bidding cities” and the preparation work done by each candidate to integrate their vision for sports and legacy, including the tangible (venues) as well as social and environmental aspects.

He was also encouraged to learn that all four bid cities had repositioned their bids to different extents to take account of the worldwide recession: “The Olympic Movement does not live in a bubble and is part of the global situation.”

“It’s very important for the IOC to see these trends,” he said, “it shows the IOC cares about the biggest event in the world and that the Games can be a showcase and have an impact on the city when the Games are leaving.”

Continental Rotation System for Olympics?

El Moutawakel confirmed to the news conference that the IOC had no continental rotation plans for the Olympic Games, easing fears for Madrid that its proposals for an Olympics in Europe after London 2012 might be a factor against them.

“This is not something discussed in the IOC at this moment,” she said, noting that some sports federations, including FIFA, prefer to take their showpiece events around the continents. “There is no rotation system, so may the best win,” the IOC member for Morocco added.

Felli quickly knocked down a suggestion from one reporter that the Summer Olympics might be heading further west after the Beijing Games and London 2012. “The bid city will get the Games irrespective of what continent they are on.”

Regardless of the lack of a rotation policy, not once in the post World War II history of the Olympics have the Summer Games gone to the same continent twice in a row.

Alleged Spy Keeps His Cover

The British-based freelance journalist accused by the Rio 2016 bid of spying for Madrid during the IOC Evaluation Commission visit to the Brazilian city kept a low profile last week.

Simon Walsh was part of the Madrid PR operation, but did not mingle with reporters. He avoided the press room and was chiefly responsible for putting out press releases about the bid presentations made to the IOC. 

There was no shortage of 2016 releases blasted out in e-mails to accredited media and handed out to reporters working in the press room. But unlike in releases issued in the months leading up to the IOC visit, his name did not appear on them; Madrid bid consultant Malcolm Munro was the only contact listed.

Earlier this month Rio officials were angered to find out Walsh worked for Madrid but had been accredited through EFE, the Spanish state-run news agency, to cover the IOC’s stop in the Brazilian city.

Madrid 2016 CEO Mercedes Coghen had bristled with a little annoyance when asked by ATR to explain the spying affair last week. She claimed it was a “misunderstanding” between the bid’s communications agency and EFE.

Fashion Update

Neckties in the colors of the Madrid bid with a field of white hands that form the logo were worn by male members of the bid team for the IOC visit. 

The ties in red seemed to be most popular, followed by blue. Women wore a scarf with a white background decorated with the outstretched hand of the bid logo.

With reporting from Mark Bisson.For general comments or questions, click here