No Chest Thumping: USOC Not Setting Set Medal Target In Beijing
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Scherr Says USOC Moving
Away From Medal Target |
As part of a "broad-based effort to improve the U.S. Olympic team's image,'' USOC officials for this summer's Beijing Olympics "decided to do away with a public medal target -- and the chest-thumping that accompanied it in Athens," according to Amy Shipley in a front-page piece in the WASHINGTON POST. USOC CEO Jim Scherr: "We don't think it serves a useful purpose politically ... or for us." USOC officials have "instituted mandatory two-day seminars for U.S. athletes that address conduct, manners and ethics," and also have "paid particular attention to the uniforms that more than 500 U.S. Olympians and team officials will wear at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Beijing to ensure they do not come across as too casually attired." Meanwhile, U.S. anti-doping officials "recruited a dozen top athletes to sign on to a voluntary program in which they are subjected to extensive blood and urine testing to demonstrate that the U.S. Olympic team is committed to competing drug-free in Beijing." Though U.S. and IOC officials said that they are "under no overt pressure, their corporate and financial backers say the athletes' image and behavior also are paramount among their concerns." Coca-Cola North America spokesperson Susan Stribling: "If we do have athletes we are working with in any given country, we certainly wish them the best, but we choose athletes based on what they stand for, not whether they are going to win a gold medal or not. We support when the USOC and IOC take action to do things that preserve the sanctity of the Olympics and principles it stands for." Before heading to Beijing, U.S. athletes are required to attend one of four seminars in DC, San Diego, Chicago or S.F. "involving 26 hours of instruction and discussion on such topics as making ethical choices, Olympic ideals and Chinese customs" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/19).
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