Former IOC President Samaranch Asks For The 2016 Olympic Games In Madrid At Final Presentation
Madrid made the fourth and final Olympic bid presentation of the day to IOC members in Copenhagen. Following is a summary.
Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. took the podium first and introduced the bid delagation.
Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardin took the stage next.
The Mayor said that this is the second consecutive bid for Madrid. He said that in sport there is never failure, you can never give up. He said he and his team will stay to support the Madrid Olympics for the next seven years.
A video portraying Madrid as multicultural showed people of different nationalities and different cultures living in Madrid.
Mercedes Coghen, CEO of Madrid 2016 spoke next. She spoke about her Olympic experience in Field Hockey.
“We believe in our games with the human touch.”
“Thanks to our location and time zone we offer a global Games.”
A video showed a visualization of the venue plan as described by Coghen and others. The empasis was on the bid’s planned legacy, environmental plans and the compact, efficient transportation plans.
Esperanza Agguirre, President of the Regional Government of Madrid spoke about her governments committment to the Games and emphasized Olympic values and her goal to change the life of citizens of Madrid.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, President of the Spanish Government was next on stage. He spoke of infrastructure that is already built and ready.
“Our candidacy is reliable. It is reliable because it is united politically.”
“We have listened to everything the IOC has suggested.”
“I commit to a project which will allow the spreading of athletics for all young people.”
A video was shown of people “relaying” an envelope from Madrid, across Europe and finally to the Bella Center in Copenhagen resolved into an actual handoff of a letter to the IOC signed by the people of Madrid. It contained a message hope and dreams for the 2016 Olympics.
Alejandro Blanco, President of the Spanish Olympic Committee was next on the podium and he spoke of a games designed by and for the athletes.
