Bidding for 2020 - Madrid Slashes Budget; Tokyo Unveils Logo; Rome Engages Youth

Madrid Slashes Bid Budget

Madrid 2020 will spend tens of millions of dollars less than the 2016 campaign, a result of ongoing fiscal woes in Spain.

Alejandro Blanco, president of Madrid 2020, told Spanish media on Tuesday the bid’s budget would be 30 to 40 percent less than the 2016 budget but would not give an exact figure.

For the 2016 bid, Madrid spent $50 million. This time around, the Spanish capital will fork over between $31 million and $36 million.

Speaking to Around the Rings, former British Olympic Association chief Craig Reedie said that decision seems to make sense for Spain.

"I suspect that this announcement reflects the NOC belief that much bidding cost can be carried over from the 2009 campaign," Reedie said in an email to ATR.

"In addition it may also reflect the present economic pressures in Spain and Europe which have been well documented."

Blanco said that Spain "needs" the Olympics more than the other countries in the race: Azerbaijan, Italy, Japan, Qatar and Turkey.

Tokyo 2020 Unveils Logo

An arrangement of cherry blossoms will represent Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics.

On Wednesday, the bid committee unveiled its new logo – a wreath of red, blue, yellow, green and purple flowers designed to represent friendship and peace – at the design college Tokyo Mode Gakuen.

"It symbolizes the concepts of friendship, peace, eternity, happiness and unity, concepts that we hold most dear," said Tokyo 2020 president Tsunekazu Takeda.

"The designer haseven been able to create the logo in the form of a flower that, in itself, is an internationally recognized symbol of Japan."

Ai Shimamine, a fourth-year student at Joshibi University of Art and Design, created the logo as part of a competition judged byTokyo 2020 CEO Masato Mizuno, designer Kashiwa Sato and script writer Kundo Koyama.

Tokyo is bidding to stage the Olympics for the first time since 1964 against Doha, Rome, Madrid, Baku and Istanbul.

Rome 2020 Update

Rome 2020 is hoping its "Giovani Roma 2020" scheme connectsthe city’s youth with the bid campaign.

Bid leaders recently unveiled the program in the Italian capital as a "meeting point" for the bid and young people.

A website was unveiled for the program, and the province of Rome will handle promotion.

Giovanni Petrucchi, president of the National Olympic Committee of Italy, said he launched "Giovani Roma 2020" after being approached by young Romans who wanted to be involved with the bid.

Outreach will be conducted at schools and universities throughout Rome, and an "Ambassadors in the World" plan will involve young people internationally in support of Rome 2020.

Rome 2020 also announced that Risorse RpR will provide technical support for the bid. The company will advise the city on matters relating to transportation, infrastructure and the environment.

Pan Am Games Bids

Richard Carrion, IOC member from Puerto Rico, says the time may be right for a bid from the commonwealth for the 2019 Pan American Games.

In an interview with Primera Hora.com, Carrion says that he doesn’t know which city on the island would bid, but that Puerto Rico is ready for another Pan Ams. San Juan hosted the event in 1979.

The Pan American Sports Organization will select a host in 2013.

Also raising its hand to bid is the Argentinean city of Rosario. The mayor of the country’s third-largest city said this week that steps are being taken to win the support of the Argentina Olympic Committee, which must nominate a bid to PASO.

Other 2019 Pan Am bids are expected from Santiago, Chile, Bogota, Colombia and Lima, Peru.

Written by Ann Cantrell.

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