Madrid makes last five for Olympic bid

18 May 2004

MADRID – Madrid has made it to the shortlist to stage the 2012 games, the International Olympic Committee announced Tuesday.

Politicians and sporting figures were celebrating the news that  the Spanish capital is to compete against London, Paris, New York and Moscow to stage the prestigious event.

The final decision will not be made until 6 July 2005 at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Singapore. 

Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC, made the announcement Tuesday at the palace of Beaulieu in Lausane in Switzerland.

Havana, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro and Leipzig were rejected.

Madrid was the first Spanish city to reach the shortlist after Seville failed to make it this far when it applied to stage the 2008 Summer Games. 

The mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz Gallardón and Jaime Lissavetzki, Sports Minister, both toasted the news at a meeting at the town hall in Madrid Tuesday.

Well-known sporting figures such as Spanish long-distance runner Chema Martínez were also celebrating the news.

Madrid has unveiled a detailed and extensive plan for staging the games, if it is chosen.

Madrid’s status as a major European capital and its reputation as a centre of sporting passion will endear it to the IOC.
 
The transport infrastructure is well funded and could cope with the demands of an Olympic Games.

But the major factor counting against Madrid is Barcelona’s hosting of the Games in 1992.

In Olympic terms, 20 years may be too short a period in which to award the event to the same country.

Paris, the favourite, launched its candidacy with a glitzy ceremony at the Eiffel Tower.

The city lost out to Beijing for the 2008 Games and also missed out in 1992, but it is confident it can win now.

London and Moscow are also strong contenders.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news