Madrid announced Wednesday it will fight to host the Summer Olympics in 2020, believing it had a “great probability” of winning its third bid after losing out for both the 2012 and 2016 Games. “Madrid is submitting a bid because it thinks it has not just a chance but a great probability of securing the Olympic Games,” Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon told a news conference. “The city of Madrid has the support of institutions and the sporting world to secure the Olympic Games for our city,” he said.
The mayor said the cost of the campaign to bring the Olympics to Madrid would be half that of the previous two bids because much of the work had already been done.
The Spanish capital believed a European city would have a good chance in 2020 after the 2018 Winter Games were given to South Korean city Pyeongchang, Gallardon said.
The International Olympic Committee will decide in Buenos Aires on September 7, 2013 which city is to host the 2020 Summer Games.
Madrid’s mayor said his city would not spend any money on infrastructure before being chosen. Gallardon said he believed there would be enough time to complete the infrastructure between the decision date and the Games, estimating that Madrid already had 80 percent of it in place. The bid must still be approved by the Madrid city hall and the Spanish Olympic Committee, which then has to present it to the International Olympic Committee before September 1.
