Despite media reports and Twitter conversations that went viral about the confusing new Madrid 2020 Olympic bid logo – bid International Relations CEO Theresa Zabell stands solidly behind the logo and her bid.
“We had a fully booked house…we were surrounded by people in the design business and they liked the logo very much.” the double-gold Olympian in sailing exclusively told GamesBids.com.
Zabell said that she had already answered questions on Spanish radio about the confusing logo that includes a scripted ‘M20’ design that in execution looks more like ‘20020’. Only minutes after the logo’s release the Twitter hashtag #Madrid20020 went viral and reports quickly spread in international media.
She explained “it’s very round and we wanted it to be harmonious with the five gates of Peurto de Alcala which is one of the symbols of Madrid.
“It has five gates, open gates – it symbolizes the entrance gates where the five continents can come in and be welcome in our city.
“If it were only the five pieces of the Peurto de Alcala with the M20 then obviously maybe it would have to be defined more so that nobody would get confused. But underneath, the ‘Madrid 2020’ is written in very well-defined letters so I don’t think its something we should worry about.
A standing-room only crowd of 400 people at the Spanish Olympic Committee headquarters watched the logo presentation for Madrid’s third consecutive bid, one that will distinguish itself from the previous two failed bids by focusing more on sport.
“Sport is playing a bigger role, a heavier role,” Zabell said.
For the 2012 and 2016 campaigns, the Mayor of Madrid served as the President of the bid committees. This time it’s the President of the national Olympic committee, Alejandro Blanco, who will serve as president of the bid. In all, six Olympians have been appointed to key positions on the bid team.
Zabell said the strategy was to learn from past successful bids including London 2012, Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018 – three bids that were more about athletes and less about politicians.
She told GamesBids.com “we already know just about everybody out there in the international arena,” Zabell said about the advantages of having sport leaders involved in the bid.
“In previous bids – it was a difficult task to introduce [the bid team] into the sporting world.”
Last month the Spanish Olympic Committee announced cost-cutting measures amid the financial crisis that’s hitting Spain hard, but Zabel doesn’t believe this will have a detrimental impact on Madrid 2020.
“We are definitely going to be able to do a good enough job, that’s for sure.
“It’s true that we have a budget cut, but its also true that it’s our third time around and when you do something for the third time you don’t need as much money as when you do it the first time.”
She said that Madrid’s 2016 bid spent less than the 2012 bid did and the further cut of 40% is manageable.
“We want it to be a very austere bid and we want to spend what we think is necessary and not one euro more.”
The International Olympic Committee will select applicants to a short list in May and the final election will be held in Buenos Aires in September 2013.
