In today's pre-Olympic Games press conference in
Sydney, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch tried to
"illuminate his success and brush aside what many consider
major failings," according to Amy Shipley of the WASHINGTON
POST. Meanwhile, Samaranch "dismissed concerns about
gigantism and other issues" facing the Games. Asked about
"a slate of embarrassing problems that have hit the IOC the
last week," Samaranch said "he did not know of any problems"
(WASHINGTON POST, 9/14). The AP writes that Samaranch was
"under often hostile questioning" at the news conference.
Samaranch: "Sydney is ready. The IOC is very much satisfied
and confident that arrangements are in place for a very
highly successful games. ... Sydney is very different from
Atlanta. The look of the games is fantastic, with banners
and so on." While Samaranch acknowledged the possibility of
transportation problems, he said, "I think [Sydney is]
solving [the] problems" (AP, 9/13). On NBC's "Today" show,
SOCOG President Michael Knight said that transportation is
his greatest concern: "The biggest risk is always transport.
We've still got a few glitches we're trying to iron out, so
the bug's there at the start." Knight, on security:
"There's a lot of security around, but it's as unobtrusive
as you can make it." SOCOG CEO Sandy Hollway was asked if
Sydney is ready for the Games: "We're working extremely
hard, but it's on matters of detail. It's tying up loose
ends. But what will lift us from very good to monumentally
spectacular, is if we get great weather" (NBC, 9/14).
U.S. MEDIA'S TAKE: In L.A., Alan Abrahamson writes,
"Without question, transit issues remain the No. 1
logistical priority confronting Sydney organizers." Knight:
"The chances of us doing it perfectly are zero. There are
risks to doing it well, but I think we've got a reasonable
chance of doing it well" (L.A. TIMES, 9/14). USA TODAY's
Christine Brennan notes that with transportation and protest
issues surrounding the Games, Samaranch "hasn't had the best
of weeks." But "one can argue that the Summer Olympics
never have been held in a city of more natural beauty" (USA
TODAY, 9/14). In AZ, Dan Bickley writes that "things are
not going so well in Australia," as the transportation
system "is already in shambles" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/14). In
Boston, Bob Ryan: "As near as I can tell, much of the
griping that punctuated the ['96 Games] has resumed here.
... Security is a major, major concern. And transportation
is dicey at best." But "flawed as they are, not to have
[the Games] would be unthinkable. The good really does far
outweigh the bad" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/14). In N.Y., Wallace
Matthews calls Sydney a "beautiful city" that already is "a
mess ... and it is becoming clearer and clearer that
perhaps, the disaster that was the 1996 Olympics wasn't all
Atlanta's fault after all. Perhaps what is wrong with the
Olympics is the Olympics themselves. ... The Olympics has
become too big for any city ... to handle or run or manage
efficiently" (N.Y. POST, 9/14).
THREE CHEERS? In DC, Chandrasekaran & Shipley write
that athletes and visitors have "given gushing reviews to
the facilities." The Olympic Park "is relatively free of
giant advertisements and aggressive vendors," and instead
looks like "a giant, newfangled amusement park" (WASHINGTON
POST, 9/14). In Houston, Fran Blinebury: "If the Olympic
Games ever needed a shot in the arm after [the Salt Lake
City bid scandal], then they have come to exactly the right
corner of the globe" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/14). In
Milwaukee, Gary D'Amato calls Sydney "vibrant and charming."
One day before the opening ceremony, there is "virtually no
sense of dread among Australians about the potential hassles
and headaches of staging the Games, as there was in Atlanta
in 1996" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/14). USA TODAY's
Mike Lopresti wrote that Sydney will play "its beauty card,
its friendly card" (USA TODAY, 9/13). In Chicago, Jay
Mariotti wrote that some Australians "are working up a
vigorous grudge" against the U.S., as "everywhere you look
this week, these bloody cobbers are taking cheap shots and
firing insults at Americans" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 9/12).
