The Sydney Olympic Games cost $2.9 billion (Can.) to run, and New South Wales taxpayers will have to pay more than half the bill. The cost of the Games included Olympic venue construction costs and associated infrastructure. Sydney’s organizing committee spent $1.8 billion (Can.) staging the Games which was offset by its income from ticket sales. A full report is expected in the next few months.
A watercolour illustration of a victorious female runner against a backdrop of the Sydney skyline by Ing has been chosen from among eight sports posters as the official poster of the Sydney Games. The poster will be part of a limited edition series of posters presented to key Olympic guests and supporters. It will be featured in the International Olympic Committee’s permanent Olympic collection in Lausanne but can now be seen on sites around the Homebush Olymic venue and in the Millennium Marquee, also at Homebush.
Drink up! Salt Lake City Mayor Rockey Anderson wants Utah to change its state liquor laws to make it easier to get a drink during the 2002 Olympic Games. Anderson and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee are working on a compromise “beer garden” next to the downtown medals plaza, which is now off-limits for alcohol consumption. Ninety per cent of Utah’s residents are Mormons who shun alcohol as part of their belief.
Mitt Romney, President of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, is refusing to use an insurance policy to cover defence bills owed by Salt Lake bid executives Tom Welch and Dave Johnson. It seems that Welch went without a salary for 10 years of Olympic bidding and has a claim for $1 million in deferred compensation. Lawyers say the standoff is hampering the defence team which will likely incur millions of dollars in fees and expenses. Meanwhile, the Justice Department estimates that as of May 31 it spent $1,059,000 on salaries, travel, support services and other costs, and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee has paid more than $4.2 million on scandal-related legal fees.
And finally, the latest word is that IOC executive Jacques Rogge, who is in charge of the 2004 Athens Games, said the Games are staying right where they are. He said that Athens has “all the qualifications to organize the best ever Games” and he reassured the Athens government of the IOC’s support. Although Greece has said all the projects will be ready by May 2004, the IOC wants them ready by the end of 2003.
