No success like failure

Antonio Arimany, managing director of Madrid 2016, explains how two consecutive unsuccessful Olympic bids have actually helped the city

Madrid wanted the Olympics badly. Before the hosting decision, public support for the bid was as high as that of Rio. Members of the bid team spoke of how they could feel success on the way. Failure was not an option.

Public support for an Olympic Games
in Madrid is extremely high

“We don’t have any plans for the future if we are not winning. We had this experience in 2012 and we don’t want to go through this again,” Antonio Arimany, managing director of Madrid 2016 told Host City in August 2009.

The post mortem
Such confidence was not completely unfounded. Madrid actually scored more votes than Rio de Janeiro in the first round of voting. Arimany says: “We have a very secure number of voters who were with us from the beginning to the end of the process. We feel that we were very close and that Madrid did a very good job.

“We knew that there was no silver medal in this process, so we have to congratulate Rio because they did a fantastic job: they won this race, which was very difficult for all of us.”

Arimany is candid about weaknesses in the lobbying process. “We think we did a very good job in terms of the technical project and the presentation. But what is clear is that we should have done better in engaging the voters – the IOC members – at all levels.”

He also recognises the need for a unique selling point. “Rio had a very clear and understandable reason for hosting the games – they had an argument. This is something that the voters took in mind – the Olympics going to South America for the first time, which is a good thing. We do have to find a clear reason for Madrid to host the games that convinces the voters.”

Long live the bid
Madrid’s 2016 bid cost around USD56m, half of which was publicly funded. The return on investment is difficult to quantify. Arimany says: “This investment was very worthwhile. The tourist industry, the hotels industry, as well as restaurants will benefit from the bid.”

The Olympic bid catalysed the development of major venues such as Caja Mágica, the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre. “Sports infrastructure is being built not only for the Olympics, but also considering the use that the city could give to these venues. They were good for the Olympic project, but they were also venues that the city needed.”

But will they be profitable? “We will have to see, case by case,” says Arimany. “The Olympic Stadium will be the home stadium for Atletico Madrid. The Caja Mágica is a multi-purpose pavilion and a high-performance venue for tennis, which we didn’t have before. The Aquatics Centre will be a high-performance swimming centre in a growing area to the east of Madrid where there is no public swimming pool.” The bid was important in raising the awareness of the importance of physical activity, through lessons in public spaces. “We created a series of programmes under the brand ‘generation 16’, which increased the sports participation of citizens of all ages and origin. This will remain in place for the use of all citizens, although with the Olympics these programmes would have been increased much more.” Since the bid was launched, 30km of cycle paths have been built and the river zone has been regenerated. Sport has become part of daily life in the city. “Cycling, track and field – sports that you can practise in the street – plus gymnastics and aquatics are all becoming more popular. The streets, the parks and squares have become places for sports.”

With such a surge in activity, Spain is expecting a good performance in London 2012. “This is the plan that national sports federations, the NOC and the sports minister are working on now. We think our athletes will do very well.”

The bid has also gone some way towards improving social integration. “The new Madrileños are helping the city to grow. If you receive a lot of people from abroad or from other parts of Spain, you have to create new neighbourhoods and we want these citizens to integrate perfectly. To do this you need a tool – through sport we want to create a better city in which to live.”

Third time lucky?
There is much to focus on in the future. In February 2010, Valencia, the sailing venue for the 2016 bid, will host the America’s Cup. Spain is also hosting the basketball World Championships in 2014. The city of Tarragona is bidding for the 2017 Mediterranean Games and Spain is bidding, with Portugal, for the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup.

Can Madrid really go through this a third time? “We don’t know yet whether we will bid for 2020 or if this is to be a time of thinking about the whole process. The decision will be taken by the city and the NOC in 2011. The feeling is that we don’t have to take a fast decision. We need time to consider the possibilities and to understand all the situations for a future bid.”

Although it has yet to successfully highlight its “must-have” features, Madrid has a lot to offer the Olympic Movement. The third largest city in Europe has not yet hosted the Olympic Games and it is ready to do so. “We can offer our culture and our way of living to the Olympic Movement – and our city, where we can use the Olympics as an integration of people around sports.”

While the IOC is currently favouring new regions, the decisive factors may have changed in four years’ time. “In the future who knows – it depends in each specific moment what will happen. We cannot transfer our experience into the future because the competitors will be different. 2020 will be different.”