Madrid 2020 IOC Evaluation Commission Visit: Blanco talks up Madrid’s bid for the bigger picture

By Keir Radnedge in Madrid

Alejandro Blanco declared himself a happy man as Madrid 2020 reached the halfway point in its hosting of the IOC’s evaluation analysis.

The president of both the bid and the Spanish Olympic Committee knows they have a fight on their hands. For all their bid experience, ailment Tokyo and Istanbul present awkward competition all the way to the vote in Buenos Aires on September 7.

Perhaps that was the reason he was keen – taking a time-out from the presentational formalities – to talk up the long-term legacy potential of not only a possible Madrid Games but the bid process itself.

Madrid has spent around $100m on three successive bids which may appear excessive in a country whose economy and jobs market have been hit hard by the eurozone crisis. But Blanco was finding consolation in what may be deemed a ‘cultural message’ to his country – and its young people in particular.

Time slot

“We all want only the best for the Olympic movement,” he said. “Our candidature is something we want to take much further than in just the time period of the Olympic bid itself. We want it to be a new way of looking at sport. So anything everything we do should be viewed that way.”

Blanco acknowledged that “this is a difficult period for Spain and many other countries” and the fall-out was evident in the street demonstrations and strike action which had already been evident this week.

But he added: “The legacy here is the [potential] strength in sport in this country and in the world.”

Blanco thought that the numerous questions asked by the members of the 14-strong evaluation panel, headed by IOC vice-president Sir Craig Reedie, should be viewed as an expression of serious interest in “this great project.”

Indeed, the bid had been constructed with a view towards economic and sporting responsibility in a difficult economic landscape so “we did not end up with superfluous facilities; the bid is a very compact project.”

Returning to the theme of sport as a moral panacea for the ills of the world, he said: “I don’t see the Olympics only as a way of improving on our sporting results. The way we thought of these Olympics is that they will be a great legacy and make sport all-important in our country.

Schooling scheme

“We’ve introduced sport values as a subject to be taught to be children at school. We are trying to ensure that sport becomes an active part of schooling from lowest ages.

“So the great legacy is about sport transforming the lives of people in this country . . . it is so important, for example, it cannot be pigeon-holed into one specific government ministry but should feature in the work of six or seven.”

Blanco said thatMadrid’s bid team had learned from the failure last time round. One of the lessons was “the need to be realistic.”

Perhaps that was why he was talking about a sporting life beyond the bid.