A recent survey shows that 76 per cent of Utah residents don’t plan to attend any 2002 Winter Olympic Games events. Of the 22 per cent of residents who are planning to get involved in the Games, nearly half will do so as volunteers. Also, 46 per cent of Utah’s residents don’t think the Salt Lake Organizing Committee gave them a good shot ot obtaining tickets, but Caroline Shaw, a spokeswoman for the organizers, said many of those who don’t plan to attend might not realize tickets are still available. She said 17 per cent of Olympic tickets remain unsold, including some of the least expensive — $20 tickets for short-track speedskating and $25 for cross country skiing.
Representatives of three Utah counties were to meet to decide if they should tax venues owned by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. The venues include the Utah Olympic Oval, the Utah Olympic Park and equipment stored at other venues. SLOC’s president Mitt Romney said SLOC should be treated as a non-profit entity, like a hospital or church, because the Olympics have an education and cultural mission. He also noted the venues have been tax-free since they were built. But whatever the counties decide, Romeny said it won’t hurt SLOC’s $1.3 billion budget. He said money designated for street decorations, which must be ordered by May 30, would most likely pay the property taxes.
Foot-and-mouth disease isn’t welcome at the Olympics. Foreign visitors to the 2002 Winter Games will be screened by food-sniffing dogs out of fear that people might bring foot-and-mouth diesease with them. The dogs will be used to detect any undeclared, illegal food imports. Though most athletes and visitors to the Games won’t be coming straight from a farm, some might want to bring favourite foods with them. A half-eaten salami sandwich could make its way into swill for a familly pig. If the meat were infectd with foot-and-mouth, Utah’s livestock could be imperiled. To ensure prohibited products don’t make their way into Utah during the Olymlpics, there will be an increase in the number of personnel at the Salt Lake City International Airport’s international terminal, which is already being monitored. Preventitive measures are also in place in post offices and at private courier services.
For security reasons, light rail lines serving the University of Utah won’t operate on the day and night of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Games, as well as on a rehearsal day. Passengers who ride the light rail to downtown from outlying areas will be shuttled onto buses to ride to the stadium and several park-and-ride lots will be set up throughout the Salt Lake Valley as well.
The USOC is confident that the United States’ chances to host the 2012 Olympics will benefit from a progress report on the preparations for the Salt Lake Olympics by the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Board of Directors at its semi-annual meeting recently, that showed preparations for the Salt Lake Games are going so well. Key USOC members had high praise for the Salt Lake organizers’ remarkable progress toward rehabilitating the images of the USOC, the Salt Lake organizers and the Games themselves.
And finally, another progress report from Athens. Heading into the second half of a seven-year task since winning the 2004 Olympic bid, bid organizers have made up ground lost to delays, disorganization and political feuding. Athens now has more than 70 per cent of the venues it needs in place, but has only now finalized plans to break ground on the remaining facilities. The main Olympic stadium also needs an extensive refurbishing. The government gave final approval Monday for construction of the Olympic Village that will house 17,300 athletes and officials. Jacques Rogge, the IOC official supervising Athens’ preparations, said he expects half the venues to be ready by late 2003 and the rest by January 2004. As part of the effort to speed up construction, Greece will bring in more than 1,200 Cambodian workers. Cambodian officals said the specialized workers will arrive in August to help construct venues and other Olympic-related sites.
