There are about two journalists per athlete at the Sydney Olympics. More than 21,000 media representatives have been accredited for the Games, 40 per cent more reporters than at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and many of them are housed in a village that provides meals, a pub and a fitness centre.
The Sydney International Airport has had the busiest week of passenger activity in its 88-year history. On Tuesday alone there were 3,000 Olympic-related passengers. About 28,000 of the expected 41,000 people with Olympic passes have now been accredited.
It seems that out-of-town bus drivers recruited for the Olympics are working 12-hour shifts without breaks and are sleeping up to eight to a room in dormitories. And the drivers are only getting one meal a day. The drivers are also complaining they haven’t had adequate training on Sydney’s streets. They had been promised a package offering 1-1/2 times their normal salary as well as room and board.
The International Olympic Committee is confident that the Sydney Games won’t get the same violet protests that have marred the World Economic Forum in Melbourne. Organizers are expecting a range of demonstrations during the Olympics, but say they would be held by people airing grievances unrelated to the Games and would be kept away from Olympic venues.
The Internet service and news provider AOL said it will allow its users two options for getting Olympic results, in real time or delayed. The decision came after 75 per cent of more than 1,000 AOL users polled said they would prefer not to find out event results before watching them on television. But SportServer.com, ESPN.com and Yahoo plan to make news available in real time.
Heads of several large companies including IBM Corp., Coca Cola Co., Toyota Motor Corp., McDonalds and Microsoft will be in Sydney for the Olympic Games. The companies will spend tens of millions of dollars entertaining their customers during the Games. IBM Chairman Louis Gerstner and 300 IBM colleagues will be on a liner moored by the Opera House. Gerstner is using the boat as his home base to host clients. IBM is flying in 1,000 of its best customers. Australian-born Coca-Cola Co. Chairman Douglas Daft will join President Jack Stahl and other Atlanta-based Coke executives at the upscale ANA Hotel. McDonald’s chairman and chief executive Jack Greenberg and several senior executives will help 1,300 employees serve burgers at special outlets at Olympic Park in Homebush Bay. The executives will inspect Sydney restaurants, mingle with franchise holders and visit 400 children who are part of the McDonald’s Olympic Achievers program.
