POSTED: Thursday October 1st 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPANISH PREMIER “MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN EVER” OF OLYMPIC WIN

“We hope to bring great joy to our country tomorrow.”

Copenhagen, 1 October - Spain’s Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero today said he was “more optimistic than ever” that Madrid can win tomorrow’s vote on which city will host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2016.
 
Mr Zapatero told hundreds of Spanish and international media in Copenhagen this afternoon that Spain had achieved a completely unified bid with every political party and public institution across the whole of Spain cooperating together to support the Madrid Olympic bid.
 
He said that having spoken with 50 or so IOC members he was “more optimistic than ever that Madrid can be successful tomorrow.”  
 
“I hope we can give great joy to our country. An Olympics in Madrid will do so much for Spain and so much for the whole Olympic movement.
 
“Spain is a country which is true to the Olympic values, loyal to Olympism.
 
“The whole nation has united around the noble cause of Olympism.”
 
He said there were many factors that decide an Olympic bid but sport itself was one of the most important.  
 
He explained: “Spain is going through a golden moment for sport. Spain is European Champion in football and basketball, has won the Davis Cup in tennis and achieved success in many different sports such as handball and water polo.”
 
“We respect all the other great cities and we are very proud of what we have achieved, our bid is strong and has unified an entire country.” 
 
Referring to tomorrow’s crucial vote by the International Olympic Committee the Prime Minister said: “While there is still time we will not stop for one moment until we have got there.”
 
There was a round of applause in the press conference when he concluded, “We hope to bring great joy to our country tomorrow.”
 
- ENDS –
 
For all media enquiries, please contact:
 
In Copenhagen:
Malcolm Munro: +44 (0)7795 013006 mmunro@goodrelations.co.uk
Jorge Hijar: +34 650 803 412 jhijar@madrid16.es
Patricia Fernández Pérez: +34 608 544 960 pfernandez@madrid16.es
 
In London:
Nicky Blunt: +44 (0)20 7861 3107 nblunt@goodrelations.co.uk
Annie Tarling: +44 (0)20 7861 3143 atarling@goodrelations.co.uk
 
In Madrid:
Alvaro de la Cruz: +34 679 760 605 adelacruz@madrid16.es
 
VNEWS Agency distributes Madrid 2016 footage relating to daily news of the Olympic bid. These videos are free of rights and can be accessed via satellite or FTP download. Please view samples at www.vnews.es (section Madrid 2016).   For further details, please contact Alberto Goytre or Carmen Bond at VNEWS, alberto.goytre@vnews.es, +34 662 361412.
 
For a selection of Madrid 2016 images, please contact Alvaro de la Cruz +34 679 760 605 adelacruz@madrid16.es

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Keywords · José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero · Juan Antonio Samaranch · Madrid 2016 · IOC

Name: Malcom Munro
Organization: Madrid 2016 Olympic Bid
Email:
Phone: +44 (0) 7795 013006
URL: http://www.madrid2016.es/EN/Paginas/Home.aspx

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