Samaranch: Madrid 2016 didn't listen to my advice
MADRID -- When it came to entering the race for the 2016 Olympics, Madrid didn't heed Juan Antonio Samaranch's advice -- to wait.
Samaranch, who presided over the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001, said Madrid was handicapped by an impressive Rio de Janeiro bid and by the games going to London in 2012.
"I gave my opinion at the time but when the majority wanted to go for it in '16, all I could do was help as much as I could," the 89-year-old Samaranch told the German agency DPA on Monday.
He didn't answer when asked if he would back a Madrid bid for 2020 because "I won't be in this world."
Rio beat Madrid for the right to host the Summer Games soundly in the final vote at Copenhagen on Friday. Tokyo and Chicago went out in prior rounds.
"What hurt Madrid the most was the repeat of the continent," Samaranch said. "Secondly, a lot of Europeans didn't vote for Madrid because they were already thinking about presenting in '20 or '24."
The Italian Olympic Committee already announced it will present Rome or Venice as a candidate city in 2020.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index
