When the International Olympic Committee's membership awarded Vancouver a narrow victory over South Korea's candidate city last week in the race to host the 2010 Winter Games, New York's quest for the 2012 Summer Games entered a new, intensified phase.
That America's current Olympic bid city has two years to build its case within the IOC is perhaps all that is certain, however. Until the votes are cast July 6, 2005, at a meeting in Singapore, New York's team will face persistent questions that only the final results — in a contest with heavyweight opponents including Istanbul, London, Paris and Madrid — will ultimately clarify.
"They've got their work cut out for them," said California entrepreneur and past volleyball Olympic champion Robert Ctvrtlik, one of three American IOC members among the 109 who cast electronic ballots last week at the IOC Session in Prague. "The main thing to remember is that this is about relationships."
Some of the major unknowns include:
Can the IOC be convinced that there is mostly upside in a scenario where the 2010 and 2012 Games are back-to-back in North America, in Vancouver for the winter edition and in the Big Apple nine summers from now? Or will the IOC's European members revolt?
"The Europeans will use it [against New York]," said South Korean IOC member Un-yong Kim. But he also indicated that other members might actually embrace a 2010/2012 North American doubleheader.
Does the IOC pay attention to, or even care about, the recent scandals and resignations that have led some to characterize the U.S. Olympic Committee as dysfunctional or, worse, indifferent to cordial relations with the world's sports leaders outside U.S. boundaries? (The USOC designated New York as its official candidate and is therefore a partner in the process).
"We vote on a city, not a national Olympic committee," American IOC member Anita DeFrantz said. "And, besides, we are the U.S. Olympic Committee. We are important to the Games. So I think that is sort of a nonissue."
Do the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York compel the IOC to place the Games there in a display of unity and peace, or does the memory of the World Trade Center towers crashing down stir fears of gathering for a mega-event in America?
When he ran the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee, Mitt Romney had projected little chance of the Games returning to the United States in the near future. He has a different view now.
"9/11 changes the formula, particularly as it related to New York," said Romney, the governor of Massachusetts, who attended the Prague meetings to make a final report to the IOC on the Salt Lake Games. "9/11, I think, offers a reason for remembering and showing solidarity with those who lost their lives, and may therefore open some IOC members toward the Games returning to the U.S. before our fair date. Otherwise, I think [New York 2012] would be a far more remote possibility."
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| Doctoroff |
No doubt some of these plot lines flashed through the mind of New York City's deputy mayor for economic development and leader of the 2012 effort, Daniel Doctoroff, as he found a seat in a remote corner of the Prague Hilton last Wednesday. While celebrators from Vancouver and defeated supporters of Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria, crowded the lobby, coffee shop and bar, Doctoroff caught up on cell-phone messages.
His public message is that New York has never assumed anything about pursuing the Olympics and that NYC2012's strategy is designed to survive the unexpected.
"We are now walking to the plate," Doctoroff said after Vancouver's 56-53 victory against Pyeongchang, noting that NYC2012 does not actually begin competing until the IOC formally accepts the 2012 bid submissions July 15.
"I do believe the Olympic movement makes its decision based on what city it believes will be best toward the advancement of its values. In two years, a lot can happen. This is going to be a great adventure."
Prague marked the beginning of New York's concerted relationship-building within the IOC. Doctoroff had the only credential in the NYC2012 lineup. This allowed him to enter official areas as an observer and guest. Also visible were former USOC executive director and Turner Sports boss Harvey Schiller, now CEO of the financial services firm Assante U.S. and volunteer chairman of the NYC2012 management committee; and NYC2012 executive director Jay Kriegel.
As NYC2012 promotes its bid, based on a projected $2 billion operating budget in 2012 dollars and highlighted by a concentration of competition venues in Manhattan, its main objective is to develop enough fans in the IOC that members disregard the geographic proximity of Vancouver's 2010 Games.
IOC President Jacques Rogge was quick to echo other comments that geography is not a built-in factor.
"I remind you we've had two consecutive Games in Europe," said Rogge, referring to the Athens Summer Games coming up in one year and the 2006 Turin (Italy) Winter Games. "This so-called continental rotation, we don't believe in that."
Steve Woodward reported from meetings of the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board and 115th Session in Prague, Czech Republic.
