GREEK LEADER TO STAY ON: After a meeting with Greece
Premier Costas Simitis yesterday, ATHOC 2004 President
Gianna Angelopoulous-Daskalaki "will stay on the job, ending
reports she was planning to resign because of widespread
disagreements with the government." Angelopoulous-Daskalaki
"reportedly has had problems with various ministers involved
with the Games, especially the Cabinet member in charge of
building five venues" (AP, 10/16).
PARALYMPIC GAMES: USA TODAY's Karen Allen writes that
the Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC) has sold
about 900,000 tickets to the Games and are estimating $18M
in ticket revenue. IPC President Robert Steadward said
yesterday that he thinks sponsorships, licensing and
merchandise "could bring the total revenue to a potential
$50-60M. While there "is no widespread live TV" for the
Sydney Paralympics, Steadward said the "next step" for the
Games is "obviously a major TV contract" (USA TODAY, 10/17).
In Sydney, Stephanie Peatling writes that the SPOC "needed
to sell" 650,000 tickets to the Games to meet its A$16M
ticketing budget (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 10/17).
ON THE U.S. FRONT: In Salt Lake, Christopher Smith
writes that White House ONDCP Dir Barry McCaffrey announced
yesterday that he would resign January 6. The move comes
after McCaffrey undertook "an unprecedented two-year
campaign against performance-enhancing drugs in sport."
Recently, McCaffrey's "attention turned to" UT's preparation
for the 2002 Winter olympics "and a desire to stage the most
drug-free Olympics in history." IOC called McCaffrey's
resignation "unexpected" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 10/17). ...SLOC
President Mitt Romney: "I'm not looking at the [2002]
Olympics as a way to bring more revenue ... or growth [to
UT]. ... [The Games are the] most prominent platform for
showing the great qualities of the human spirit ... and I
want my kids to see that" (DESERET NEWS, 10/15)....SI has
published a special, 96-page collector's edition
commemorating the 2000 Sydney Games. The issue features 3-D
photography and has a cover price of $3.99 (SI).
