Madrid’s turn? City hopes to get 2016 Olympics

MADRID — After losing out on the 2012 Olympics, Madrid believes it is now the perfect choice to host the games in 2016.

This capital city has about 70 percent of venues completed, a superb transportation system, full financial backing and the overwhelming support of its people — even the King of Spain.

So why the sense that Madrid could be a dark horse candidate?

Maybe it’s because organizers acknowledge they were left with a “bittersweet taste” after the International Olympic Committee’s recent evaluation report, even though they now feel they have everything in place. Also, Rio de Janeiro seems to have become a slight favorite as it bids to become the first South American destination for the Olympics, while the other finalists — Chicago and Tokyo — have their own cases to make.

The IOC will select the 2016 host Oct. 2 in Copenhagen.

“We have a great bid,” bid leader Mercedes Coghen told The Associated Press in an interview. “I think there is nothing that anybody could say, ‘This is not good for the Olympics.’ We have the experience, we have the athletes, we have the infrastructure, great transport, we have the accommodations, we have the culture.”

Winning the right to host the games would be a bonus for a nation enjoying a golden sporting era.

National teams have become European champions in soccer and basketball; Spain’s tennis players are defending the Davis Cup trophy without yet having to rely on second-ranked Rafael Nadal; Barcelona has dominated club soccer; and Alberto Contador has managed a career sweep of cycling’s three premier events.

And still fresh in the minds of many are memories of Spain’s successful staging of the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992.

The IOC lauded Madrid’s infrastructure, security and public support, but it posed questions about Spain’s commitment to combating doping, and complained that the delineation of the organizational roles and responsibilities was unclear.

Madrid quickly set about fixing those two problems. Last Friday, the government passed a decree bringing anti-doping testing regulations into line with those of international bodies. Organizers say they have also prepared documents outlining just who is responsible for what.

“Everything has been clarified,” Coghen said. “We have responded to the questions they (the panel) were doubting. I think everything has been solved.”

This is Madrid’s second straight bid. The city finished third behind winner London and Paris in the 2005 vote for the 2012 Olympics. Madrid also was a candidate for the 1972 Games that went to Munich.

Some say the IOC is unlikely to opt for a European city twice in a row, but the organization claims this is never taken into account. Coghen says Madrid is banking on that promise and also on the IOC’s desire to make the games universal.

“The president of the Olympic committee said that would not be the reason if Madrid is not selected,” Coghen said. “After the sublime games in Beijing with Asian culture, then we have London with the commonwealth culture and the English language, then why not Madrid Games in Spanish, and with the Latin spirit.”

Madrid also claims to be the best choice economically.

Twenty-three of the 33 proposed venues are ready and Madrid believes it can complete the rest despite the fact that Spain is one of worst-hit countries by the global economic crisis, with unemployment now at 17.9 percent and expected to hit 20 percent next year.

The Madrid city council is guaranteeing the $1.15 billion needed to construct the Olympic village. The proposed budget is just under $5.6 billion, with Spanish government guarantees to cover any surplus costs.

Among the venues that need to be built are the basketball arena, which Real Madrid will use before and after 2016, and the Olympic stadium, where soccer’s Atletico Madrid will be based.

With about 3.5 million people in the city and another 2.5 million in surrounding areas, Madrid is the smallest city among the four finalists.

Madrid argues that having staged 250 international sporting events over the last decade, it has a proven record.

On the negative side, the country’s reputation was tarnished by cycling’s Operation Puerto doping scandal in 2006, when police raided two clinics in Madrid that were allegedly at the center of a blood-doping ring. More than 50 cyclists and several doctors and cycling team officials were implicated, but no one was ever formally charged.

The government points out, however, that the World Anti-Doping Agency in August named Spain as among the countries which fully complied with the anti-doping code and one of the few countries that apply out-of-competition controls.

Government officials also say security is guaranteed, although terrorism is still one of Spain’s headaches. The March 11, 2004, train bombings that killed 191 have not been forgotten, while as recently as August, the Basque separatist group ETA killed two and injured dozens with two powerful car bombs in the city of Burgos and on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.

The IOC evaluation committee, however, said past security incidents gave Madrid extra experience. “Madrid is capable of providing the level of security and safety required for the games,” the report said.

The city has prepared an Iberia Airbus A-321 specially decorated with the bid’s logo and colors to take the delegation to Copenhagen for the IOC vote. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will head the team, and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will be on board, too.

“We all have to use our tools, our strengths and ours are very, very strong,” Coghen said.

The city also has one trump-card supporter in Barcelona-born Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the IOC for 21 years before Jacques Rogge took over in 2001.

“Madrid deserves the triumph,” Samaranch said. “It has worked hard and if it is chosen it will stage an excellent Olympic Games. I will always be by its side and will do all in my power to make this dream of Madrid and Spain a reality.”