2009-05-07 00:19:02 -
MADRID (AP) - The International Olympic Committee continued its evaluation of Madrid's 2016 Games bid on Wednesday with a tour of the proposed venue sites, considered one of the strongest points of the Spanish capital's candidature.
The 13-member team, chaired by Morocco's Nawal el Moutawakel, spent nearly 12 hours visiting the infrastructure, which is already 77 percent complete and within a 20-kilometer radius of the city center.
«I think they were impressed with what we had to show them,» bid leader Mercedes Coghen said. «I think the visit really went well, it was spectacular and it was a good feeling all around.
The only disappointment may have been the finale, when the delegation arrived at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium, where former Madrid great Alfredo di Stefano was on hand to greet the IOC with interim president Vicente Boluda, but current players Raul Gonzalez and Iker Casillas failed to show up on the field.
Organizers said that the IOC members met Casillas and took turns shooting on goal, with El Moutawakel managing to score.
The third day of tour began with a visit to the proposed 65,000-capacity Olympic Stadium, where Atletico Madrid's contigent of South American players _ Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan and Maxi Rodriguez _ did appear to greet the IOC.
Delegates were then bused through the Olympic Park, the proposed areas for the velodrome, hockey and aquatics center, and the Olympic pavilion.
Fencer Jose Luis Abajo, who won bronze at Beijing last summer, said the IOC seemed content with Paralympic facilities at the city's trade fairground, which will also be site of the media village.
«They made two questions about the (International Broadcast Center),» Abajo said. «One was to know if it was already built, (and) if it will be built for the Olympic Games. But they haven't made many questions because it was all explained.
Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco then walked the IOC members through the «Magic Box» tennis center, where French player Amelie Mauresmo was training for the upcoming Madrid Masters tournament.
IOC members were treated to a handball tournament involving a local school at the Madrid Arena as the tour continued on to the Palacio de Deportes, where taekwondo and judo are slated to be played.
It all wrapped at the Bernabeu, with cyclists leading the IOC bus down the Paseo de Castellana, a main thoroughfare in Madrid, to the stadium where a group of schoolchildren greeted their arrival.
Journalists were taken to the proposed sites ahead of the IOC members and could only observe from afar, as IOC rules prohibit contact between the press and the evaluation committee during the visit.
The IOC will continue touring venues on Thursday before the evaluations wrap up on Friday.
Madrid is the final of the four candidate cities to be toured after Chicago, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.
The IOC will decide on the host city at a vote at Copenhagen on Oct. 2.
