IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch is "ready to
proclaim" Sydney as "the best Games ever." Samaranch:
"Something could still happen before Sunday. But if I had
to close the games today, I would say: 'Best games ever'"
(AP, 9/28). In a USA TODAY Cover Story, Christine Brennan
writes under the header, "Great Drama, Great City And Great
Games." John Hancock Financial Services President & CEO
David D'Alessandro: "There are two big stories here. 'Great
Games' and 'Drugs.' Everything else is a subhead."
Brennan: "The Games will be remembered for controversy, and
they'll be remembered for being lucky enough to be here in
Sydney. ... There can be little doubt about it: The Sydney
Olympic Games are the best organized, most electric and most
successful in memory. ... These were the Games of the new
millennium, of the future, and yet, we must ask: What
exactly is that Olympic future?" (USA TODAY, 9/29).
NEXT SELECTION TO SET THE TONE: The WALL STREET
JOURNAL's Copetas & Thurow report that the next several
months "will be crucial for the future of the IOC and the
Olympic movement as a whole." The IOC will select a
successor to President Juan Antonio Samaranch in July, and
the outcome of the vote "will determine whether the
committee can lay to rest the scandals that have rocked it"
ever since the Salt Lake City bid scandal broke. Copetas &
Thurow note that IOC VP Dick Pound, IOC VP Jacques Rogge and
IOC member Thomas Bach are considered the favorites to
replace Samaranch. Meanwhile, the IOC's 11 corporate
sponsors "find themselves wrestling with an expensive
paradox. They see that this may be the time to leverage the
millions of dollars they sign over to the IOC by speaking
out against the current IOC management structure and style.
At the same time, the sponsors fear that any criticism will
further tarnish the Olympics and thus harm their
investments." John Hancock's D'Alessandro says that the
Olympics "will deteriorate without new management, no matter
how glorious the athletic competition." D'Alessandro: "The
IOC can use the athletes to save themselves now, but they
won't be able to do that again when the next scandal comes
along. There's a limited amount of goodwill out there and
the IOC is eating into it" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/29).
