BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhuanet) --The mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz Gallardon this Wednesday confirmed that the city would be a candidate to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
The 2020 bid will be the third time in succession Madrid has competed to host the Olympic Games and the city will be hoping for better luck than for 2017 when it finished third behind London and Paris and for 2016 when the city was beaten by Rio de Janeiro.
A powerful factor in Madrid's favor is that the city has venues already constructed and little investment would be needed to prepare sites for events such as show jumping, tennis, football and cycling..
"Madrid has a high percentage of the infrastructure intact and the work that has been done means that the cost of 2020 will be significantly lower, while guaranteeing the maximum returns," confirmed Gallardon at his midday press conference
"Madrid counts on the support of the world of sport and the Olympic spirit continues to be alive in our city," assured the Mayor.
The city of Madrid is suffering from financial problems, but it is hoped that the previous two attempts to host the Games have built up a store of goodwill for the city, reducing the cost of any campaign, while the benefits of hosting the Olympics would far outweigh any short term losses.
"It would provide an economic impulse for Madrid and for Spain," confirmed Gallardon who added that the proposal was signed by both the Popular Party, which controls Madrid as well as the opposition, Socialist (PSOE) Party.
Madrid's hopes were also boosted by the decision taken by the International Olympic Committee a week ago Wednesday to name the South Korean city of PyeongChang as the venue for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
The choice of PyeongChang to host the Winter Games is thought to reduce Tokyo's chances of hosting the 2020 summer Olympics as the IOC may not want to name two Asian host cities in such quick succession.