Madrid nervously sees Olympic dream fade away (Feature)

By Sebastian Fest Aug 12, 2009, 8:52 GMT

   Madrid - The city is still full of billboards with the bid's logo, but something has snapped in Madrid's summer heat: the Spanish capital is nervously seeing its dream of hosting the 2016 Olympics fade away.

   There are plenty of signs of this. Olympic bid officials admit that Rio de Janeiro has seen its effort 'strengthened,' the Spanish sports daily Marca has issued an early death certificate on the candidacy and monarchy spokesmen put limits on pressure on King Juan Carlos, designated as the bid's only possible 'saviour.'

'It is true that Rio has gone away strengthened after the presentation in Lausanne,' Madrid bid number two Antonio Fernandez Arimany told German Press Agency dpa.

Madrid is seeking to host the 2016 Olympics in a race with Chicago, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro. The final decision is set to be made on October 2 in Copenhagen.

'Rio made a great presentation there, from what we have been told,' Fernandez Arimany acknowledged.

   Using a map in which South America appeared as a blank space in terms of Olympic Games hosts, Rio made an impact in June on the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gathered in Lausanne for presentations by the four candidate cities.

Moreover, the Brazilian metropolis did not just appeal to emotions. There was also hard fact, and the presentation featured the president of the Brazilian Central Bank to guarantee that the project is financially solid.

'Rio was the city that made the most of the technical briefing in Lausanne,' Rio's number two Carlos Roberto Osorio told dpa.

   Marca - the daily with the highest readership in Spain and the mainstay, at least so far, of the city's bids to host the 2012 and 2016 Olympics - agrees with him.

   Marca thinks Rio is 'the 'most favourite'' among the bids, while Madrid is in its words 'the least favourite with Tokyo.'

The daily's chief editor signed a piece last week in which he spoke of an 'Olympic dream that runs a greater risk of evaporating with every day that goes by.' And he asked that the king intervene as the only way to keep Madrid in the race.

'We do not think that editorial was right,' Fernandez Arimany. 'It was a surprise for us too, but we cannot consider that Marca is against the bid because of a small independent article.'

In the background, there is a political clash between Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon and Esperanza Aguirre, the president of the Madrid region.

'The mayor showed that he is extremely nervous over the news he is getting from the IOC,' Marca's chief editor stressed Tuesday.

   Half of the municipal sports facilities in Madrid - which is itself half-empty in August - are currently closed, less than two months before the city's Olympic future is defined. In other such facilities, under the control of Aguirre's regional government, the cost of use has gone up by as much as 500 per cent.

   In that context, the permanent reference to the alleged power of the Spanish king to convince the 107 voting members of the IOC at times seems like an exaggeration, particularly when one takes into account an important hurdle: Athens 2004 and London 2012 were held in Europe.

Taking the 2016 Olympics to Madrid would mean that at a certain point three of the last four Games would have been held in Europe. That is precisely why cities like Paris and Rome declined to put forward bids this time around.

And yet many Spaniards continue to believe in their king's powers.

'Only the king can manage to make true at the last minute the dream of all Spaniards,' Marca said.

The sports daily talks about the prestige of the monarch - an Olympic yachtsman in Munich 1972 - among IOC members and recalls the 'diplomatic and lobbying marathon' that former British prime minister Tony Blair went on to get London the 2012 Olympics.

   'The king can only contribute positive things to the bid,' Fernandez Arimany told dpa. 'He is our country's top personality at the international level.'

In the coming days, the Madrid bid official is planning to make the most of the athletics world championships in Berlin to keep looking for votes among IOC members.

The king's entourage, however, sets limits on the great expectations that are being placed on the monarch. Sources at the Royal Household told dpa that they were not planning to have Juan Carlos I reinforce his involvement in the campaign, beyond heading the Madrid delegation in Copenhagen.

And although he is indeed a popular figure within the Olympic world, the monarch also has limits: 'It's not like the king is going to get there and say, 'let it be done.'