50,000 Participate In Madrid Sporting Activities To Support City's 2020 Olympic Bid

Madrid's bid for the 2020 Olympic Games "was given a resounding show of public support on Saturday night as 50,000 people took part in a range of sporting activities to highlight the city's desire to host the Games in eight years time," according to REUTERS. In keeping with the bid for the Games, a number of the city's landmarks were used for events with beach volleyball taking place in Retiro Park, "while crowds took part in aerobic and cardiovascular training sessions outside Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium." Table tennis, seven-a-side football, basketball and gymnastics activities "were also held throughout the city." The bid leaders have consistently stressed that the cost of hosting the Games will not come close to the nearly £9B ($13.9B) the London 2012 Games cost due to the majority of the sporting stadia and infrastructure already being in place (REUTERS, 6/23).