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Madrid 2016 bid organisers head to Beijing for inspiration

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Madrid 2016 bid organisers head to Beijing for inspiration

MADRID: The organisers for Madrid’s 2016 Olympic bid are headed to Beijing looking for inspiration and networking opportunities in the hopes of boosting the city’s chances of becoming a host city.

The Spanish candidate wants the country’s athletes, federations, organisers and fans in China to help advertise Madrid as a deserved candidate for 2016. Madrid officials are also looking for creative sparks and ideas during the Aug 8-24 Games, although bid chief Mercedes Coghen said it was important not to borrow too much from the Chinese.

“Every country and every Games has its own personality, just like people,” Coghen said on Friday. “We don’t want to copy (Beijing) and to copy the installations, I think that would be impossible. You have to bring your own personality.”

Madrid is competing against Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo for the right to host the 2016 Olympics, with the IOC set to announce the winner on Oct 2, 2009.

“These are the first Games that we in the office will have worked, so the experience of living them is an opportunity,” the 45-year-old Coghen said. “It helps in providing extra motivation in fighting for the Games ourselves. I hope we learn much from observing, from outside and in.”

While Spain are not expected to match the 32 medals they won during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Coghen hopes the country’s athletes have been inspired by the recent Spanish triumphs in football and tennis. Spain won the Euro 2008 for their first major title in 44 years, while Rafael Nadal followed up his French Open title by finally beating Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.

If Spain’s athletes keep winning in Beijing, it will rub off positively on the country’s bid, Coghen said.

“When Spanish sport is spoken about in many places outside the country, it puts us on the map, and we’ve accomplished a lot,” she said. – AP
 
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