Madrid is already in 2022 ‘World Capital of Sports’. A seal that should serve, among other things, to once again put the city in a beautiful showcase before the International Olympic Committee that allows it to keep the flame burning to aspire to organize the Olympic Games in the future. “What competition would I like to see in Madrid in 2022? Well, the Games, even if that can’t be!” Jokes SofÃa Miranda, Councilor for Sports at the City Council, on the tartan of the Gallur court. The policy of Ciudadanos (Soria, 1984) does not hide the ambition that is breathed in the council. But everything happens to position Madrid again as a pole of attraction for events and that citizens also “breathe” sports.
“In 2019 we found a more desolate situation than we expected. The fact that Madrid lost the three Olympic candidacies (2012, 2016 and 2020) had relegated sport to the background,” he explains. “There was little enthusiasm and little motivation.” That is why it was decided to opt for the World Sports City, a title awarded by ACES, a non-profit organization based in Brussels (Belgium). Beyond the distinction, a way to contribute more weight and make sport more visible in municipal politics.
“The project is based on several pillars: attraction of events, sports such as health, promotion of the grassroots and modernization and digitization,” says the councilor, who in the middle of this month will present the catalog of events after the relief of seeing how the 29 from December the budgets went ahead. “We will have 33 million euros. We have been on the rise for three consecutive years and in 2022 it will be the department that grows the most, 25%”, he is happy. Grassroots sport will have 17% more, sporting conventions will increase by 33% and large events will increase by 48%.
What news will there be? “There are championships that are already typical, such as the Mutua Madrid Open tennis (in 2020 the city council contributed 4.2 million euros), and they will be linked to athletics, handball, BMX, skateboarding, parkour, climbing … ‘classic’ and new sports. The IOC has already introduced climbing, skateboarding or BMX into the program and breakdancing will be Olympic in Paris 2024. We must accommodate all that public “, warns Miranda, a crossfit fan and promoter of events such as the recent Challenger Series or Madrid Urban Sports, which brings together the entire catalog of fresh sports.
“We were not able to reach a younger audience, between 16 and 24, because the offer was not attractive. The city council’s sports catalog was from the early nineties and society has changed a lot,” he recalls. Thus, an urban sports park is being planned in Villaverde. And the World Capital will also be accompanied by a facility for international rugby matches or three million euros to convert soccer fields from dirt to grass.
In the background, of course, the Olympic desire. The closest would be 2036. But Miranda doesn’t want to set dates. “This is a great city and as such you cannot stop dreaming big. But you have to be aware of how we were doing. If we asked citizens how many World Cups have been held in the last eight years, would they be able to say one? No . There have not been. We have to work to bring big events, because it would be one of the main endorsements “, responds, so competitions with national and international federations are already being scheduled until 2028.
“The road is very long and Madrid could not bear a new refusal,” acknowledges Miranda. But the IOC election rules have changed and now it is about ‘seducing’ the lords and ladies of the rings. The world capital is another step. “A way of waking up from lethargy to the sport of the city,” he concludes. Madrid has already left the tacos.