Less than a week before the Salt Lake Olympic Games, Mitt Romney, head of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee admitted to the IOC’s executive board that the scandal had been his group’s biggest mistake. He said, “we stumbled badly”. Australian IOC vice president Kevan Gosper responded, “no Mitt. You didn’t stumble. We all stumbled. But we got up”. IOC director general Francois Carrard said Romney’s statement marked the end of discussion about the troubles of the past. He said, “his remarks on the crisis, the scandal, were well received. Everyone is trying to focus on the Games”.
Although IOC president Jacques Rogge has opted for accommodations in the athletes village during the Games, the rest of the Olympic family members are staying at the sumptuous Grand America Hotel. And instead of the fancy limos used in past Olympics, they will have to rough it by using Chevy Suburbans and Tahoes. There will also be a change in menu selections. How about hot dogs, sandwiches and chili? Salt Lake officials have also cut the number of seats to Olympic events for Olympic family members by 30 to 50 per cent.
And finally, if you’re a fan of pin trading, there’s a huge store at a shopping centre in downtown Salt Lake where you can buy USA hockey pins, Coca-Cola pins, Salt Lake torch relay pins and even zucchini pins. But one of the most popular pins is the French Fry sauce pin, named after a famous Utah mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise that residents like to slather on their fries.
