This story has been translated from its original Spanish version. Click here to read the original.
(ATR) Marisol Casado says past Olympic bidding failures in Madrid, Spain could taint the city’s Olympic future.
The International Triathlon Union president and International Olympic Committee member from Spain tells Around the Rings that consecutive failed bids in 2012, 2016 and 2020 may keep Madrid out of the race to host the 2028 Olympics.
"The wound of the three unsuccessful attempts has still not healed," Casado tells ATR in an exclusive interview. "I think it is wise to use this time calmly and begin to prepare for more favorable conditions in the city and meanwhile let the wound close."
She added that local support for an Olympic project may also be hard to come by. Casado says the most important factor "is the desire of the city of Madrid to meet the challenge".
"At this time the local government does not seem to be very interested in sporting events, so I see a new project in that direction difficult," she says.
However, Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) president Alejandro Blanco believes Madrid could join the 2028 bidding race depending on the outcome of September’s IOC Session where the 2024 host city will be chosen.
"First, we will take into account the result of the host city election for the 2024 Olympic Games in which the considerations set out in Agenda 2020 are applied for the first time," Blanco tells ATR.
Blanco, president of Madrid’s bid for the 2020 Games, alluded that a European victory from Budapest or Paris over U.S. candidate Los Angeles could hinder Spain’s hosting aspirations in the near future.
As Casado noted, the losses in 2012, 2016 and 2020 have left a bad taste in the mouths of some city and state officials although the Barcelona 1992 Games are oft recognized as a model of Olympic success. The city’s only other bid loss came in 1972.
Madrid placed second after Munich in 1972 and for 2012 was ruled out in the third round of voting. Madrid lost in the final round of the 2016 vote to Rio de Janeiro and finished third behind Tokyo for the 2020 Games.
Economic uncertainties that have accompanied the city’s bids since the beginning of the new century, the departure of former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch in 2001 - a key to the success of the Barcelona 1992 bid - and the possibility of multiple European bidders for 2024 all set Madrid behind its competition in 2020.
However, Blanco believes that Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms set out by IOC president Thomas Bach are rooted in the philosophy of the Madrid bids - the Games should work for the city and not vice versa. He adds that Tokyo and its attempts at lowering its own Olympic costs "follow the model that was presented for Madrid 2020".
Spain’s other IOC member and vice president of the organization Juan Antonio Samaranch echoed Blanco’s sentiments that Madrid’s bid helped inspire the 2020 reforms.
"The legacy of Madrid 2020 has permeated the IOC," the son of the former IOC president told Spanish newspaper Diario AS. "Its proposal has influenced the IOC decisively; it was austere, with almost everything built."
Samaranch says a new attempt by Madrid would be received with great enthusiasm by the Olympic electoral body but it is beyond question to just "refresh the project" from 2020 according to recent opinions of journalists in Spain.
Blanco also toldATR that another Madrid candidacy would be reliant on the combined objectives of the "political leaders of the Madrid City Council and the Government of Spain along with the majority opinion of Spain’s citizens".
Samaranch agrees with Blanco about the factors in play that will determine Madrid’s chances to host the Olympics.
"If in 2024 they go to Europe it would be more difficult," Samaranch said, "but it would have to have a project that excited everyone with a mayor who believes in the Games and fits them into their political and social projects."
Written by Miguel Hernandez, translated and edited by Kevin Nutley.
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