Sports Construction News »

Olympics Can Boost Spain, Claims Madrid 2020

31st January 2012

OlymipcsMadrid 2020 bid leaders insisted that Spain’s financial crisis would not hinder the city’s third consecutive tilt at the Olympic Games as its controversial bid logo was unveiled on Monday.

The Spanish city, which came third in the race for the 2012 Olympics behind Paris and the winning bid from London, came even closer in the 2016 tender, putting together a formidable bid that was only edged out by Rio de Janeiro in the final round of voting. Spain is currently enduring a period of austerity with nearly one in four Spaniards unemployed, while the city’s bid budget has already been slashed by 40% to approximately US$35 million.

However, bid leaders believe the Games could act as a catalyst for the recovery of the nation. “Today is an important day for the future of Spanish sport, for the future of this country,” said bid leader and Spanish Olympic Committee president Alejandro Blanco, according to the Associated Press. “We want (the Olympics). We can do it. We dream of them, we are in love with them and we need them. We owe it to society and, above all, to the youth that encourages us.”

The new Madrid 2020 logo was designed by a university student, but has already received a huge amount of criticism in the country. The design is envisioned to represent the letter M for Madrid and the number 20 in front of the coloured rings of the Olympics stylised into arches inspired by the Madrid landmark, Puerta de Alcala. However, the effect of the lettering appears to show “20020” provoking negative feedback on social networking platforms such as Twitter, where the topic trended for much of Monday.

Madrid, along with five other candidate cities, is due to submit its 2020 Games plans to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by February 25. The other cities in the running are Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Rome and Tokyo. The IOC will vote on the host city in September 2013.

Source: sportbusiness.com