Disappointment After Madrid 2016 Olympic Flop
Rio 2016 Olympics Means Second Consecutive Defeat for Spaniards
Oct 11, 2009
As Rio celebrates last week’s overwhelming victory in the four-way race for the hosting of the 2016 Summer Olympic games, its closest rival in the vote is beginning a process of self-reflection. Madrid, basking on the high-profile support of the Spanish Royal Family and the former president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch Sr, made it to the final round of votes in Copenhagen, upstaging heavy-weight contenders Chicago and Tokyo. Madrid’s Olympic dream ended there on a 66-32 vote in favor of the Latin American city.
Overwhelming Public Support
“The disappointment is for us”, a visibly saddened Queen Sofia answered reporters minutes after the IOC’s president Jacques Rogge had opened the envelope containing Rio’s name. The disappointment travelled quickly to the streets of Madrid, where thousands had congregated to follow a live feed of the vote. It also spread to other parts of Spain: according to official polls released by the Madrid 2016 team, the bid enjoyed the support of 93.6 percent of Spaniards. This is the third failed attempt for Madrid, following a previous defeat in 1969 and more recently in 2005, when it lost against London for the 2012 games.
Disappointment within the bidding team has given way to anger and dissent. Accusations that the vote was “completely guided” from the start in favor of Rio were made by team members as early as the bid’s post-vote cocktail reception and recorded by the leading Spanish newspaper, El Pais. Madrid’s mayor, Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, has been quick to rebuke such accusations in his latest press conference: “When we don’t win, it is not our style to blame the referee”, he stated in response to questions addressing the irritation against the IOC within the team.
Madrid 2020 Bid in Doubt
The dissenting voices concerning a likely future bid for the 2020 games have begun to emerge amongst politicians and athletes alike. During the same press conference, details of the cost of Madrid’s second consecutive failed attempt were made public, amounting to 37.8 million Euros (55 million USD), of which 16.8 came from direct public funds –a substantial amount for Spain, hard-hit by an economic recession that, according to recent figures from the International Monetary Fund, is unlikely to ease up until at least late 2010.
Spain’s Secretary of State for Sport, Jaime Lissavetzky, has stated to El Pais that a future bid will now have to be conditional to the results of the next local and regional elections in Madrid –a far cry from the previous Olympic zeal of the Spanish political elite. Asked about 2020, the conservative leader of the opposition Mariano Rajoy –previously a vocal supporter of the bid who travelled to Copenhagen for the final vote with his political nemesis, President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero- replied with a curt “we’ll see”.
Madrid’s 2016 bid was initially well received by the IOC, scoring the second highest marks in its technical evaluation behind Tokyo. But the tacit rule of continental rotation among Olympic hosts –which would have entailed three European Olympics back to back behind London 2012 and Sochi 2014- and emotional appeal of what will be the first South American games tilted the balance overwhelmingly in favor of Rio in the final round of votes.
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