PM Backs Madrid; Korean Opposition for Tokyo; Thorpe for Istanbul

Spanish PM Gets Behind Madrid

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says the 2020 Olympics would be a "dream come true" for the whole country.

"We want the Games and we will do everything in our power to convince the IOC members that they want to vote for us," he said.

Rajoy emphasized one of the main advantages of Madrid’s proposal: "Most of the economic efforts the Olympic Games require have already been made.

"Most premises are already built," he said, referring to promises kept after the city’s two previous Olympic attempts.

He added that staging the Games would "strengthen Spain’s image in the world".

Rajoy’s comments came on a whistlestop visit to Lausanne last week. Unable to attend Madrid’s presentation to IOC members at the extraordinary session on Wednesday, he arrived soon afterwards for a dinner and met with IOC president Jacques Rogge and a number of IOC members

Rajoy left on Thursday morning after meeting more IOC members at Madrid’s bid exhibition room in the Lausanne Palace hotel; rivals Istanbul and Tokyo also had dedicated space to show off their bid concepts to IOC members and media.

Korean Group Against Tokyo Bid

Tokyo 2020 dismisses objections from a group of Korean citizens campaigning against the Olympic bid.

The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) has written to the IOC and circulated an online petition in its attempts to force Tokyo out of the three-city bid contest for the Games.

According to the Yukan Fuji newspaper, it has raised concerns about what it describes as anti-Korean demonstrations in Tokyo and Osaka by ultranationalist groups. VANK claims they "contradict the IOC’s stated principles of Peace and Humanism."

The paper quotes VANK president Park Ki-Tae condemning the demonstrations for "fomenting the world’s fear of war, and evoking a revival of the imperialism that left behind wounds to people in neighboring countries that linger to this day".

Tokyo 2020 responded on Monday, telling Around the Rings that the bid "respects the various beliefs and opinions that exist around the globe, and at the same time, we are focused on conveying our vision for the Games".

"Hosting the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 would enable Japan to make a significant contribution to the growth and development of the entire world, and the event would help not only promote sports, but reinforce international relationships," Tokyo said in a statement to ATR.

It added: "The Tokyo 2020 bid committee has seen recent reports about the activity you have mentioned, and must stress that it is unrelated to our bid. Tokyo 2020’s focus remains on our plans and our determination to host Games that will provide the very best stage for athletes to compete."

Olympic Champion Backs Istanbul

Five-time Olympicchampion Ian Thorpe backed Istanbul’s bid for the 2020 Games at the Cross-Bosphorous Swim.

Thorpe joined 1,500 athletes participating in the race that starts in Asia and finishes in Europe.

"Turkey is the meeting point of cultures. That’s the country’s greatest advantage in the 2020 bid," said Thorpe after the race.

"No Olympic Games has ever been held in this region. The 2020 Olympic Games should come to Turkey. Hosting the Games here will have significant long-term benefits for the Olympic Movement. The Olympic Games is an extraordinary experience. I believe it would be great for the Games to come to this region, and I am sharing this belief with everyone."

Kazan Primed for Olympic Bid, Says Zhukov

As the 2013 Universiade gets underway in Kazan, Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov is already heralding the event as a sign that the city is a contender to host the Olympic Games.

"Inthe future Kazan may make an application for the Games," said Zhukov, adding that the city will also look to host upcoming world championships in athletics, hockey and volleyball. "Kazan is ready to host big events."

Zhukov said that the Universiade was a "prototype" for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, which are being cast as a sign of Russia’s economic and political maturity on the global stage.

"In terms of building modern sports facilities and the number of athletes taking part in the competition, they’re very similar," said Zhukov, drawing a comparison between the Olympics and the Universiade. "As for the Universiade’s opening and closing ceremonies, it’s all very much like the Olympics."

Kazan is a multiethnic city with a large Muslim population located on the banks of the Volga River some 720 kilometers (447 miles) from Moscow.

On Friday, International University Sports Federation president Claude-Louis Gallien said early cost estimates for the Kazan event put the overall price tag at $4.5 billion, making them the second-most expensive in the biennial Universiade’s 54-year history, but behind the $30 billion spent on the event in Shenzhen, China, in 2011.

By comparison, Russia is expected to spend about $51 billion on preparations for the Sochi Olympics, making it the most expensive Games of all time.

It remains unclear when Kazan, Russia’s eighth-largest city, would put forward an Olympics bid. Bidding for the 2024 Games opens in 2015; 2028 bidding starts in 2019.

The city will also play host to the 2015 world aquatics championships and some matches during the 2018 football World Cup.

Published by exclusive arrangement with Around the Rings’ Sochi 2014 media partner RIA-Novosti.

Reported by Mark Bisson.

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