Jul. 22/2001
Salt Lake 2002 organizers want every athlete attending the Salt Lake Winter Games to be drug-tested. Only half of the 10,000 competitors in Sydney were tested before attending the Games, but the smaller Winter Games make it more feasible. SLOC is asking Congress for $1 million to test anyone who hasn’t been checked within four months of the Games. And the IOC will have a simple urine test for erythropoetin, the banned endurance booster, by the end of the month. The new test will be more effective than the unwieldy blood-urine combo used in Sydney.
“We believe that our budget is very sound today”, said Brett Hopkins of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. SLOC’s budget showed a “gap” of $379 million in July 1999 but it narrowed to $53 million by June 2001. The overall core budget to stage the Salt Lake Games is $1.3 billion. All permanent construction is complete, with an additional $100 million worth of temporary construction moving forward.
A $60 million appropriation for Olympic security cleared its last major hurdle in the U.S. Congress. The money, which the U.S. Secret Service needs to coordinate activities during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, survived a House-Senate conference committee and is in the final version of a spending bill that will be sent to President Bush for his signature. And the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $12.7 million for state law enforcement agencies during the Olympics. Of the 3,500 law enforcement officials in the state, it is estimated that 2,500 will be involved in the Olympics. The money will help cover their extra costs.
The management board of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee gave its approval to an $8.8 million “look” that will splash colour and banners on buildings and venues at the Salt Lake Games. SLOC wasn’t planning an Olympic-size makeover but devoted an extra $5.8 million for decorations after winning royalty concessions from the IOC. The Salt Lake colour scheme will contrast “cool” colours – blue and purple for mountain shades against “hot” colours ranging from yellow to orange meant to celebrate athletic passion and the Games motto, “light the fire within”. The organizing committee plans to dress up downtown street with tower banners as tall as 60 feet and plaster 10 or more downtown buildings with wrap banners that will weigh about 4,500 pounds and take a week to install. Walkways to venues will be lined with banner clusters and cover the backsides of bleachers with wraps as large as a football field. Spectators will see the look of Olympic rings, snowflakes and a spectrum of blues and reds. The Salt Lake International Airport will begin its transformation in November, with the region’s cities following in January. Salt Lake is spending more than $100,000 to transform its downtown into an Olympic festival
A delegation from the Boston Marathon urged Athens organizers to improve the race’s standards for the 2004 Olympics. The Olympic course will be run along the ancient route that gave the sport its name. Proposed improvements, for both the annual Athens Marathon and the Olympic race include more water stops along the route and full medical services along the course and at the finish.
What does an IOC President earn when he becomes a president for life? Juan Antonio Samaranch will be paid close to $300,000 annually, which will include his suite at the Lausanne hotel, a car and a driver.
And finally, federal prosecutors sought to shore up their fraud case after a judge tossed bribery and racketeering charges out of the Olympic bribery trial. The government said that even if their million-dollar scheme to influence IOC members wasn’t bribery, the Salt Lake bid leaders were not authorized to spend money that way, and they kept their board of trustees from learning about the details. Justice Department attorney Richard Wiedis’ 34-page briefing asked U.S. District Court Judge David Sam to uphold the government’s fraud charges and a conspiracy count. Sam said he may call a hearing on the fraud debate before deciding. He has put the trial on indefinite hold. The government wants Sam to make a quick decision so it can consolidate any appear of his rulings to the Denver-based federal appellate division
