IOC evaluation commission begins visit to Madrid

 　　MADRID, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The bid from the Spanish capital city of Madrid to host the 2020 Olympic Games is under the spotlight¹ when the Evaluation² Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) visits the city to investigate the details of the city's bid.

　　The delegates arrive on Sunday afternoon and attend a reception held by the Mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella and the President of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco, before getting down to work on Monday morning.

　　The four days of the visit, which is officially ended by Prince Felipe of Asturias at midday on Thursday will see the Commission sit through presentations on the 14 themes required by the IOC Candidacy file, as well as visiting the bid venues³, many of which have already been constructed for different events.

　　The fact many of the proposed venues already exist is one of the main attractions of the Madrid candidacy. The city presented candidacies for the 2012 and 2016 Games, finishing behind Paris and eventual⁴ host city, London in the race for the 2012 Olympics and losing out to Rio de Janeiro in its attempt to host the 2016 Olympics.

　　The city aims to use venues such as the Las Ventas bullring, the Caja Magic, where the Madrid Masters Tennis tournament is held every year, while the IFEMA exhibition center will also host events.

　　This was attractive in previous bids, but with Spain now deep in an economic crisis, this could almost be described as the 'austerity' bid with 25 out of the 35 venues already built and the budget for the Madrid 2020 campaign reduced by 25 percent.

　　However, the city will have to also convince the IOC evaluation commission that the bid is not just economically viable⁵, but will offer the best Games of the three candidate cities: Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul.

　　The Commission visits Madrid after a successful visit to Tokyo, which was praised for its organization, presentations and the positive attitude shown by potential athletes and on March 24 they begin their visit to Istanbul, which currently counts on a more buoyant economy that Madrid.

　　And there will be no hiding the effects of an economic crisis where the country is suffering the cutbacks imposed by central, regional and local governments.

　　Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday see strikes held on the Madrid metro⁶, which will complicate⁷ transport in the Spanish capital, while there is also a scheduled strike by the 186 workers at the Madrid Club de Campo (Country Club), where the archery, golf and modern pentathlon events would be held in the event of the Madrid bid being successful.

　　Weighed against this will be the chance to visit iconic sites such as Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas will be the guide.

　　David Beckham was able to help work a miracle as London claimed the 2012 Olympics, will Casillas be able to work his magic in a similar way? The answer will be made known on September 7 in Buenos Aires.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

3 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

4 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

5 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

6 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

7 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。