If you were thinking about placing a bet during the Salt Lake Winter Games, forget about it. For the first time the state of Nevada will ban wagering on Olympic events. The ban was instituted by the Nevada Gaming Commission, which ruled last year that wagers on non-collegiate amateur athletic events would be illegal. The ban on Olympic gambling came a year after the Sydney Games when many International Olympic Committee members were shocked to learn that athletes – under Australia’s liberal gambling laws – were free to bet on themselves or their opponents. Keba Mbaye, chairman of the IOC ethics commission said that the IOC will be presenting amendments in the charter to make the IOC’s position very clear, that gambling is in total contradiction of the ethical principle of Olympism.
Tickets for Olympic mountain events using I-80 are no longer available to people living in the Salt Lake Valley because of transportation troubles up Parleys Canyon. Olympic organizers have been warning that I-80 is going to get extremely congested, especially during certain days.
And finally, she’s a little bit country; he’s a little bit rock and roll. They’re Donny and Marie Osmond and it’s been announced that they’ll be among those carrying the Olympic torch on the final stage of its relay to Salt Lake City for the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Games. The Osmonds still live in Utah and often talk about growing up in the state. But the identity of the person who will carry the torch into the stadium is still a mystery.
