Canadian IOC member Dick Pound was elected VP of the IOC,
but just by two votes, over India's Ashwini Kumar. The closeness
of the race could hinder Pound's chances of some day succeeding
Juan Antonio Samaranch as IOC President (CP/TORONTO STAR, 7/18).
Pound, discussing logistics in Atlanta with a Canadian reporter:
"The transport sucks" (Jack Todd, Montreal GAZETTE, 7/18)....ACOG
CEO Billy Payne was interviewed by Bob Costas on NBC/SI's Olympic
special. Payne: "I'm feeling pretty good. I kind of worry that
I'm not worried" ("Prelude to the Games," NBC, 7/18)....CNBC
noted how Japan's top TV makers are using the Olympics to help
sell their newest High-Vision TV models ("Sports View,"
7/17)....SI's OLYMPIC DAILY will be available online at
http://sportsillustrated.com and on CompuServe (SI)....The Int'l
Baseball Assoc. votes September 21 in Lausanne, Switzerland, on
whether to allow pros in future Olympics. A previous tally in
'94 was three votes short (USA TODAY BASEBALL WEEKLY, 7/23
issue)....Gymnastics practice at the Georgia Dome on Tuesday drew
22,373 (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/17)....The WASHINGTON POST's
Christine Brennan examines the growing attention to female
athletes. Women's Sports Foundation Exec Dir Donna Lopiano:
"It's the year of the mature, female athletic body" (WASHINGTON
POST, 7/18).... Noting that NBC's announcing line-up includes 40
men and only 11 women, columnist Gwen Knapp points to the
"dubious resumes" among the men, particularly former "ET" host
John Tesh, who will call gymnastics (S.F. EXAMINER, 7/17)....The
N.Y. TIMES examines the gifts and outfits given to members of the
U.S. team by sponsors, estimated at $5,000 to 6,000 each (N.Y.
TIMES, 7/18)....USA TODAY examines Olympic Web sites, with NBC's
getting high marks (USA TODAY, 7/18).
