Barcelona recently "formalized a bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games," 21 years after hosting the 1992 Barcelona Games, according to GAMES BIDS. Barcelona Mayor Xavier Trias "confirmed Barcelona's intentions during a meeting of Franco-Spanish entrepreneurs" held at the French Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona. If successful, it would be "the first time a city has hosted both Summer and Winter versions of the Olympic Games." Barcelona's bid will be terminated if Madrid "wins its bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games." Should Barcelona host the 2022 Games, snow events would "be held two hours away in the ski resorts of the Pyrenees." Other events could take place in the principality of Andorra, "at Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig, Soldeu" (GAMES BIDS, 7/29).
MADRID REPRESENTATION: In Madrid, Matilla & Jiménez reported the Madrid 2020 Olympic bid is working to finalize its list of the 24 athletes that will represent the candidacy in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7, when the 2020 Olympic site will be announced. The objective is "not to fill the area with the biggest names, but with complementary pieces that will truly lobby and scrape votes together." One athlete participating will be Spanish Basketball League (ACB) player Felipe Reyes. Few athletes "represent the values of sport better than Reyes." One athlete forced to "unexpectedly cancel the trip to Buenos Aires is golfer Chema Olazábal," who will be playing in a tournament in Switzerland (AS, 7/30).
