Madrid laments failed 2016 bid

MADRID – As Madrid’s bid team for the 2016 Olympics returned to Spain on Saturday, questions remained over what went wrong alongside speculation over another possible run in 2020.

Madrid’s delegates returned from Copenhagen wearing long faces having lost out to Rio de Janeiro in the final round of IOC voting on Friday convinced that their overall package would bring it the games one day.

“Madrid will host the Olympic Games one day because it deserves it,” sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky said Saturday upon returning to the Spanish capital.

Although Rio’s victory was possibly a result to sympathy since South America has never been a host, Madrid had its own problems – even if it made it further in the voting than both Tokyo and Chicago.

Confusion over anti-doping regulations, a poor presentation to the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation team in May and a lack of heavyweight star power appeared to take its toll.

King Juan Carlos and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero couldn’t quite match United States President Barack Obama or Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, either.

Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez also failed to pack the necessary punch, and had Spaniards asking why the delegation didn’t bring tennis star Rafael Nadal, NBA champion Pau Gasol or Liverpool striker Fernando Torres – three world-known athletes who also speak English.

“I couldn’t be in Copenhagen to help the candidature during its final run because my profession impeded me from doing so,” Nadal said from Beijing where he was preparing for the Chinese Open. “I followed the vote off of television.”

Although Madrid’s bid had the majority of sites already built, the country’s poor economy may also have played a role. Spain, which boasts nearly 20 percent unemployment, is set to be the last of the world’s major economies to emerge from the current economic crisis.

Madrid led the first round with 28 votes, followed by Rio with 26. Tokyo got 22 votes, while Chicago finished last with 18.

The three remaining cities advanced to the second round, and that’s where the election turned firmly and clearly in Rio’s favor.

Rio got 46 votes – meaning the city picked up 20 votes from the first round, including presumably all 18 that had gone to Chicago. Tokyo actually dropped two votes for a total of 20. Madrid picked up one more to reach 29.

With no city yet obtaining the required majority for victory, the vote went to the final head-to-head round between Rio and Madrid. It was no contest as the Latin Americans rallied behind Rio as it crushed Madrid 66-32.

Still, the prospect of 2020 remains for Madrid despite the disappointing defeat.

A poll of nearly 70,000 people on Marca sports daily’s Web site on Saturday showed 54 percent support a 2020 bid, while Madrid’s College of Architects has already commissioned a competition to design the next logo in an effort to keep interest alive.

“The Olympic dream remains alive,” college dean Paloma Sobrini said. “Madrid has to be an Olympic city.”

Madrid Mayor Albert Ruiz-Gallardon said it was too early to say whether the city would join Rome and Venice as an early candidate for 2020. He said that all energies would now be directed to help land Spain its next major event – the 2018 World Cup, which it is bidding to host along with Portugal. (AP)