Utah Governor Mike Leavitt told a news conference that officials will work to ensure that terrorist attacks won’t disrupt the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. He said that organizers will do “all we humanly can to make sure the Games are safe”.
Leavitt said, “this is a sobering reminder that there are evil people in the world who will do outrageous things”.
Mitt Romney, head of SLOC, postponed an announcement of Olympic torchbearers which had been scheduled for Wednesday in New York’s Battery Park, located two blocks from the World Trade Center.
Utah Olympic Public Safety Command director Robert Flowers said the attacks will force Olympic security planners to re-evaluate their preparations but will not necessarily force changes. He said the attacks are typical of the kind of disaster for which Olympic security planners have been preparing.
Leavitt said state officials and Olympic planners have worked closely with federal authorities to prepare for the possibility of terrorism at the Olympics. “We have a strategic plan in place and we will continue to strengthen it. Today’s events only strengthens that resolve”.
