Has Prince Felipe taken Madrid 2020 close to gold?

In a few days' time the International Olympic Committee decides where will host the 2020 Olympics.  And at this late stage in the bid process, suddenly Madrid has come to the fore as favourite to get the games.  And part of that is being put down to the presence of Prince Felipe on campaign team.  Since he became Honourary President of the bid and threw himself into the process in January this year the fortunes of Madrid 2020 have steadily grown brighter.  And now there is a feeling that the games could be heading to Spain for the second time in their history, in part thanks to the prince.

 

Prince Felipe with other members of the Madrid 2020 bid as they make their final presentations in Buenos Aires ahead of the vote on Saturday

 

Olympic experts point out that a lot of the infrastructure needed for such a massive sporting event is already in place.  Spain's capital has hosted many major sporting events over the years and has the venues to prove it with just four listed as host sites in the bid still to be built.  There are the massive football grounds already in place and the promise of Atletico Madrid taking over the new Olympic Stadium to take into account as well.  Like London before it, Madrid has the hotels and the public transport in place to welcome tens of thousands of extra visitors and there are already thousands of people signed up to be Games volunteers if 2020 becomes a reality.

 

 

 

Prince Felipe and Alejandro Blanco, president of the 2020 bid, at the start of the visit to Buenos Aires.  The mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, looks on.

 

Madrid 2020 says it's offering a new way of doing the games and the investment and jobs it could bring to a country still in economic crisis is being highlighted.  The prince says he's optimistic and that the bid team is doing everything it can to bring the games to Madrid.  But against the Spanish bid is that underlying concern over money and cost and perhaps most relevant to the IOC, the fact that it would mean a third Olympics in Europe in the space of sixteen years following Athens 2004 and London 2012.

 

 

Prince Felipe arrives in Buenos Aires to help with the final push for Madrid 2020

 

But Tokyo, the frontrunner for so long, has hit problems with the bid team issuing strident promises that any problems at the Fukushima nuclear plant won't affect preparations for a Games or the event itself.  El Mundo reported a huge swathe of votes promised to Madrid on one of its editions this morning but the Spanish capital has been here before, coming third to the London bid and second to the campaign by Rio for the last two Olympics.  The presence of the prince is said to have made a real difference with high praise for his contributions at the technical presentations in July.  And tellingly, the Princess of Asturias is due to arrive in Buenos Aires on September 5th to be present for the big announcement.  It's a long way to go to look magnanimous in defeat so perhaps the royal couple are expecting happy news.