Madrid, February 4th 2005
The second day of the Evaluation Commission visit has started today at 8:30 am with the first presentation about sports and venues, in which Jaime Lissavetzky, Secretary of State for Sports, has taken part. Lissavetzky has said that the meetings have been “outstanding” in his subsequent press conference.
The Secretary of State has emphasized the “complete support” of the Government of Spain, and has also wanted to clear up all the IOC delegation “worries” about the “country’s results in the minority sports and the public attendance” if Madrid is chosen to host the 2012 Olympic Games. Lissavetzky has also explained how the Olympic preparation works in Spain, how it is financed and has enumerated the facilities and training centres currently working in the country.
While the Secretary of State was doing these statements, the meetings have continued in the Madrid Hall of the Eurobuilding hotel. The presentations about Olympic Village and legal aspects have taken place today, while the Paralympics one has had to be postponed until Sunday.
Around midday, the thirteen members of the Commission have departed in an ecological bus to the Olympic Ring. In that venue they have been able to visit the future Olympic Stadium, where the day’s anecdote has taken place when the Namibian ex-athlete Frank Fredericks has posed for the photographers as if he was getting ready to start sprinting. From the Stadium they have also examined the Aquatic Centre building works and the fields where the Olympic Village, the Velodrome and the Pavilion will be constructed.
The next stop has been the IFEMA Fair Trade Grounds, where eight sports will take place, before stopping for lunch. After that, they have visited the Barajas International Airport new massive terminal, from where they have taken the Underground to the “Nuevos Ministerios” station before going back to the hotel.
Once the session has finished, Feliciano Mayoral, President-CEO of Madrid 2012, and Manuel Cobo, Deputy Mayor of Madrid, have talked to the attending journalists. Mayoral has stated that “if all the IOC members would be allowed to come and visit Madrid, I think they would realized that this city would guarantee the resounding success of the Games”.
On his part, Cobo has said that “today we are even better than yesterday”. The Deputy Mayor has added that, in the venues aspect, “we already had very high marks but today we have proved that this city has a real project that can be touched, lived and felt”. He has also stated that the Fair Trade Grounds, the Underground and the new terminal are “a luxury” for the city of Madrid. Some of the commissioners have even clapped after the terminal presentation.
The Evaluation Commission will split tomorrow into two different groups. The first one will visit the Hypodrome, the “Club de Campo”, the Manzanares Park Tennis Centre building works, the Felipe II Sports Hall and the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The second will tour Paracuellos del Jarama, Rivas, La Gavia Park, Aranjuez and the Vicente Calderon and Santiago Bernabeu Stadiums.
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