Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson told members of the IOC Coordination Commission that he wants to set aside a “significant part” of Pioneer Park for a stage and sound system people can use to air their concerns. And a route nearby will also be laid out for protest matches. The IOC is worried that protesters might disrupt the 2002 Games. Pioneer Park will be used as a transportation centre by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and the mayor said the traffic should provide a good audience for demonstrators. But if protests do get out of hand, they will be moved farther from downtown. Meanwhile Eric Ward, director of the Utah Animal Rights Coalition, said that protesters don’t see Pioneer Park as an acceptable protest area, because the groups won’t be reaching anybody at Pioneer Park. He expects his group to be joined by other demonstrators protesting corporate sponsorship of the Games, but SLOC “is building a 10-foot fence around a lot of our usual free speech areas” he said.
Stay away. Salt Lake City’s Mayor Rocky Anderson is making sure street vendors aren’t allowed to turn downtown Salt Lake into a flea market, as happened during the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games. He said, “we don’t want people’s image of Salt Lake City to be of a place that’s crassly over-commercialized. We’ve got a lot of charm and class in our downtown and that’s what we want to capitalize on”.
Cheap tickets for sale. The Salt Lake Organizing Committee plans to release 2,600 of lower-priced tickets for each event, all with worse views than the top-notch $885 seats, in late spring or early summer. The better of the restricted-view seats will be called “B” level and may cost about $625 each; the “C” level seats may go for $320. Exact prices have not yet been set, and those estimates are based on SLOC’s orginal ticket plan approved in December 1999. SLOC has not decided how the tickets will be distributed but there are predictions that high demand will call for a lottery of some sort. At the time the sale is launched, SLOC plans to begin two Internet-based promotions; an online offering of all leftover tickets, and an auction of the high-profile front-row seats at popular events. And SLOC will also begin selling a new premium package that guarantees good seats to buyers who pay a higher price and includes ski passes. The packages, which can include accommodations, will sell at two to four times the face value of the tickets.
Lets drink and be merry. Salt Lake Olympic officials defend one of its sponsors, Anheuser-Busch, from a Salt Lake Physician that tried to step up his campaign to take alcohol out of sports promotion. Dr. George Van Komen, director fo the Alcohol Policy Coalition, wants the company to limit advertising and “Budworld” beer tents during the 2002 Winter Games. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson dismissed Van Komen as an extremist whose positions never will prevail and called Anheuser-Busch “a great Olympic sponsor” paying more than $40 million to support the U.S. and Salt Lake Olympic committees. And SLOC President Mitt Romney said he didn’t have a problem with Anheuser-Busch being an Olympic sponsor.
The Athens Academy sent a letter to Premier Costas Simitis, opposing construction of an Olympic rowing venue in marshlands near the ancient battleground of Marathon. The letter outlined why the venue should not be built at Schinias, almost 20 miles outside Athens, for the 2004 Games. Environmentalists are concerned the project could disrupt a sensitive wetlands ecosystem. Archaelogosts say it will intrude on the historic site of the 490 B.C. Battle of Marathon in which the Athenians defeated a superior Persian force. Critics, including researchers at the Athens Polytechnic, say organizers could switch the rowing centre from Schinias to lliki, an artificial lake about 45 miles from Athens, saying that lliki falls within the distance guidelines for the Olympics, already has an access road, and will have lower constructions costs and pose less damage to the environment. But Olympic organizers and the government insist bird and marine habitats and archaelogical sites will not be harmed at Schinias. An abandoned airstrip, military base and garbage dump in the area are expected to be turned into a nature park. Schinias is home to at least 176 species of birds and rare fish, and is one of only three sites in Greece with umbrella pines, an evergreen species.
Welcome to the team. Athens 2004 now has a new general manager. Ioannis Spanudakis, a Greek businessman who lives in Switzerland, was appointed by Premier Costas Simits and will fill the vacancy left open since the December resignation of Petros Sinadinos, who resigned after expressing frustration with government red tape that slowed planning.
We all make mistakes. When the IOC’s evaluation commission was in Toronto for the city’s technical evaluation, IOC technical team member Francisco Elizalde, who was also a member of the team evaluating Athens’ bid, admitted that there have been errors made during previous technical evaluations. He said they did not anticipate problems because Athens had a favourable report. Previously they visited cities over a shorter period of time and didn’t have as many experts on the commission, and as a result they weren’t as able to make as great an in-depth assessment.
They need volunteers. Employees of the Greek government might be able to work as volunteers for the 2004 Athens Games. Because there is little tradition of volunteerism in Greece, Athens is trying to meet the demand for about 60,000 volunteers to assist spectators, athletes and others for the Games. Greece’s interior minister has signed a memorandum with the Athens Olympic organizers promising to contribute “for the participation of all public employees… in the volunteer program of Athens 2004”. Volunteers will be recruited and be paid for their temporary relocation from the program’s $67 million budget.
A strike-free zone? Greece’s largest labor union pledged to cooperate with organizers fo the 2004 Games, signing a document that could prevent crippling strikes during the Athens 2004 Games. Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, president of Athens organizing committee, signed a memorandum of understanding with the head of the General Confederation of Greek Workers, an umbrella group encompassing many smaller labor unions. Although the memorandum does not secure labor harmony, it may keep the Games strike-free. Greece is plagued by near-daily strikes and demonstrations, which often create havoc on city streets and lead to massive delays in public transport.
The IOC’s executive board member Kim Un Yong of South Korea will declare his candidature in Monte Carlo later this month, say sources close to Kim. Although only two IOC members have declared their intention to stand for the presidency, (U.S.’s Anita DeFrantz and Hungary’s Pal Schmitt), Belgium’s Jacques Rogge is expected to throw his hat in the ring within the next few weeks. Rogge is considered the strong favorite to replace the IOC’s current president, Juan Antonio Samaranch. Canada’s Dick Pound is also expected to announce his candidacy. April 10 is the date when all contenders have to announce their intentions.
And finally, Lausanne’s Mayor Jean-Jacques Schilt said that Lausanne, the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee, will not consider awarding honorary citizenship to IOC head Juan Antonio Samaranch because he fears the move would lead to a political fight. Samaranch instead will receive “The Keys to the Olympic City” in May, an honour that does not have to be approved by parliament. Lausanne’s mayor was concerned of possible opposition in the city’s parliament because Samaranch served in the former regime of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Schilt said there had been no formal nomination to make Samaranch an honorary citizen.
