RPT-FEATURE-Olympics-Italy cooks up 2020 bidders like pizzas

(Repeats feature first moved at 0002 GMT)

By Mark Meadows

MILAN, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Seconds after Rio de Janeiro was announced as host of the 2016 Olympics, Venice mayor Massimo Cacciari seized the chance to put his famous but unlikely city in the frame for 2020.

A Madrid Games straight after London 2012 would almost certainly have ended any hope of a third straight European victor, but Rio's win over the Spanish capital opened the door.

"Venice is an iconic city, unique in the world, which enjoys universal recognition," Cacciari told Reuters while Rio's bid team were still jumping up and down in delight at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Congress in Copenhagen earlier this month.

Fearing Venice had stolen a march and captured the public's imagination by planning the world's greatest sporting event in the northern city of canals, other Italian bidders quickly registered their interest.

Officials in Rome, Summer Games host in 1960, confirmed they would look to bid, having already indicated a willingness if Madrid missed out on 2016. Palermo and rumblings of a proposal from southern city Bari followed.

Rather than get excited by the enthusiasm of his countrymen, Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president Gianni Petrucci scratched his head at the rash nature of it all.

"This doesn't look good abroad. It's not enough just to hold a news conference to put yourselves forward for an Olympics," he told reporters.