Because of last week’s terrorist attacks, there could be limits placed on coolers, backpacks and other totes at 2002 Winter Olympic venues.
The new restrictions would speed security checks so spectators won’t have to show up earlier than the two-hour wait already anticipated, said Salt Lake head Mitt Romney. Romney also predicted no changes to the schedule and scope of medals’ plaza events or to the trans-Atlantic torch relay. It is too soon to know what, if any, extra security measures may be necessary, he said, calling the 2002 Olympic security plan “robust and complete”, and “very easy to revise”.
Romney said the IOC has raised no specific concerns and no country has threatened to pull out. To the contrary, sports federations, governments and Olympic committees have offered condolences and votes of confidence, he said. “I will predict that every single individual who qualifies as an Olympian will be here in February of 2002″.
Ticket sales have continued despite last week’s events, but Romney admonished the media to be accurate and not to instill fear in would-be visitors. “What you write and what you report may influence lives and that’s more true today then ever before. When I said ‘influence lives’ I don’t mean life or death, I mean influence whether they come or don’t come (to the Games).”
Utah taxpayers might also be skittish, but Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said he expects the federal government, not city residents, to fund any extra law enforcement.
The federal government has already pledged $200 million to Olympic security projects, and has promised to “be there for us” if any additional costs surface, said Romney.
