OpEd - Adios, Guadalajara

(ATR) The flame is out in the cauldron at Telmex Stadium in Guadalajara, flickering away at the closing ceremony for the 4th Parapanamerican Games on Sunday.

By most accounts Mexico’s number-two city did a good job with the Parapans and last month’s much-larger Pan Am Games.

Despite worries about venues and the Pan Am Village, all were ready (if barely) by the time they were needed. Field of play controversies were absent and events took place as scheduled. Despite traffic that can be excruciating, athletes, officials and media were able to get where they needed for the most part.

Spectators turned out in numbers for both Pan Am and Parapan Games, giving most competition sessions an atmosphere that helps motivate the protagonists battling for medals – and makes going fun.

And for all the concern about safety in Mexico, the Pan Ams were held without any outbreak of gang violence or breach of security.

The Pan Am experience leaves a physical legacy that outranks some past Olympic host cities. An athletics stadium, velodrome, and aquatics center lead the list of venues that remain for use by Guadalajara and for staging future sports events.

Indeed, the success of the "Festival of the Americas" –as the Games were also called –is likely to embolden national and local sports leaders to seek even greater glories for Guadalajara. Dare we mention the Olympics?

But Guadalajara may want to wait a bit before grasping for those rings. While the city has gained experience hosting and staging the biggest multi-sport event in the Americas, perhaps enough to handle an Olympics, the infrastructure is far from adequate for the demands of the Games.

Transportation may be the biggest issue to crack. For a sprawling metropolitan area with 4.5 million, the car is the main mode of transport. A bus network is as close to mass transit as it gets; subway or other passenger rail is non-existent. The results for the Pan Ams were long travel times to venues for athletes and others, journeys of 30 minutes or more, depending on the traffic.

While the airport in Guadalajara includes an international terminal, only few flights from abroad – most from the U.S. – serve the airport. Most air travel to the city requires a stop in Mexico City.

Venue construction for an event like the Olympics would be fretful if the Pan Am experience is any indication. New venues for the Games this year mean fewer will need to be planned for an Olympic bid.

An Olympic Village may be the biggest project required among the venues needed for a Guadalajara bid. The one just built for the Pan Ams was the subject of delays, political battles and problems with construction that included a nasty sewage problem. Against that experience, Guadalajara would need to show that an Olympic Village twice as big and of higher quality would not succumb to the same fate as the Pan Am project.

Guadalajara would also need to come up with a way to present the city and region as an interesting, attractive place. An industrial, landlocked city, Guadalajara is unremarkable in many ways with its sprawl and congestion. There are few spots that inspire awe or admiration.

Stepping up its marketing game will be a must for Guadalajara to succeed in a future bidding contest. While the city has a Pan Am Games on its resume, the prize was won without the challenge of a campaign. Guadalajara was the only bidder for the 2011 Pan Ams when the Pan American Sports Organization voted for a host six years ago.

Timing, as it is for any Olympic bid, is crucial. With the field for 2020 set without a bidder from the Americas, 2024 is the earliest Guadalajara could think about a bid. And then the field of rivals could well include a U.S. bid and one from Toronto, which is hosting the 2015 Pan Am Games. All the more reason Guadalajara will need to learn how to market itself if there are dreams of more than the Pan Ams.

One factor that needs little work: the enthusiasm and hospitality of Guadalajara. Every step of the way, Tapatios, as they are nicknamed, made their visitors feel welcome, whether in the venues, hotels, restaurants – or police cars. On a rainy night without a taxi in sight for a journalist trying to get back to his hotel, a police officer told the visitor to hop in the front seat of the cruiser for a rescuing ride.

Written and reported in Guadalajara by Ed Hula

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