Olympic Movement

It appears that fans of the Olympic movement can be as fickle as some of the judges in the competition.When asked if some of the world's best professional figure skaters, such as Brian Boitano, Katarina Witt and Scott Hamilton, be allowed to compete in the 1994 Norway Games, 153 of 232 respondents (66 percent) said yes. However, when asked if the Games should return to amateur status, only 125 of 232 (54 percent) said yes."It's Your Call" represents a sampling of opinions from certain segments of the community, but it is not balanced demographically, as would be done in a scientific public opinion poll.

COPENHAGEN - - That Rio won the 2016 Summer Games is easily understandable. The International Olympic Committee fancies itself a force in global affairs. As in the case of breaking Olympic ground by giving the 2008 Olympics to China, the world's most populous country, Friday's vote was a chance for the IOC to say that by giving the first Olympics to South America, it will have aided the development of Brazil, the most populous country on the continent. That Chicago was eliminated in the first round, as shocking as it seemed, also was understandable, given the IOC's Byzantine internal politics, its fractious relationship with the country whose companies have been its cash cow and the way the host-city election system is structured.

Helmick informs IOC of his resignationRobert Helmick's free fall from the heights of the Olympic movement continued yesterday, when the Des Moines, Iowa, lawyer and former president of the U.S. Olympic Committee resigned from the International Olympic Committee.Helmick, speaking by telephone to the Los Angeles Times from the site of an IOC executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, said he informed IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch of his decision last night.In a formal letter of resignation later delivered to Samaranch's hotel room, Helmick said: "I am taking this action because I believe it is the decent thing to do and because it serves the best interests of the IOC and the United States Olympic movement by returning the focus to the programs for athletes."

Guatemala City -- In a clear attempt to improve its international standing, the U.S. Olympic Committee has thrown its full backing to the Youth Olympic Games, the pet project of International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge. The IOC members voted unanimously yesterday in favor of the new event, which would include summer and winter editions for athletes ages 14 to 18. "We would like to offer our resources as well as our support," USOC vice president Bob Ctvrtlik told the membership during pre-vote discussion at the IOC's annual meeting yesterday.

Peter G. Angelos - UP- Hello, reality. First the purge, and now the owner admits that signing Albert Belle was "a mistake." Nice call. Didn't Jerry Reinsdorf say the same thing? A Bittersweet Symphony, indeed. Ripken intrigue - DOWN - No contract offer and no clearance to play. A day after Ripken says he's ready to go, the club suggests otherwise. By the way, happy birthday. Alligator Alley - UP - The Orioles were once interested in merging their major- and minor-league spring operations.

The Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games and the city yesterday announced the nomination process for the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Torch Relay, which is expected to bring the flame to Baltimore on Dec. 22. To become a torchbearer, the SLOC requires applicants to write an essay of 50 to 100 words that describes why they or their nominee should be chosen. Candidates may have inspired others to great achievement, been a source of inspiration in the community, embodied the inspirational spirit of the Olympic movement or motivated others by encountering and overcoming adversity.

COPENHAGEN - - That Rio won the 2016 Summer Games is easily understandable. The International Olympic Committee fancies itself a force in global affairs. As in the case of breaking Olympic ground by giving the 2008 Olympics to China, the world's most populous country, Friday's vote was a chance for the IOC to say that by giving the first Olympics to South America, it will have aided the development of Brazil, the most populous country on the continent. That Chicago was eliminated in the first round, as shocking as it seemed, also was understandable, given the IOC's Byzantine internal politics, its fractious relationship with the country whose companies have been its cash cow and the way the host-city election system is structured.

Guatemala City -- In a clear attempt to improve its international standing, the U.S. Olympic Committee has thrown its full backing to the Youth Olympic Games, the pet project of International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge. The IOC members voted unanimously yesterday in favor of the new event, which would include summer and winter editions for athletes ages 14 to 18. "We would like to offer our resources as well as our support," USOC vice president Bob Ctvrtlik told the membership during pre-vote discussion at the IOC's annual meeting yesterday.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Twenty-one years after it was expelled from Olympic competition for its racially discriminatory policy of apartheid, South Africa won readmission from the International Olympic Committee here yesterday, opening the door for South African athletes to participate in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain.The historic decision, based largely on the South African Parliament's repeal of key apartheid statutes in June, is expected to boost the reform movement of South African President F. W. de Klerk.

Recently, a friend, discussing how rapidly changing technology has altered our concept of time, used a white-water rafting expedition he took this summer to illustrate the challenges facing managers in the 21st century.The world, he reasoned, is a raft, engulfed in a swirl of shifting events -- choppy, fast-moving rapids, tossing the raft to and fro, bombarding its navigators with a steady barrage of challenges that demand swift responses.With no luxury of long, studied analysis, managers will have to make their decisions on the spot, instinctively, intuitively.

Nude Olympic luge babes promoting alcohol shooters seemed like a good idea at the time. But now two Florida businessmen and a sports agent are in hot water with U.S. Olympic officials for the unauthorized use of a snapshot of seven teammates - tastefully shielded by their red sleds - and the sacred "O" word to hype a bar drinking game called ShotLuge. "We have forwarded this to our legal department," said U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel. "This Web site and the activity it promotes would appear to be inconsistent with the Olympic movement."

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Rachel Steer shoots as well as she skis, which is good news for the U.S. Olympic team and bad news for the caribou. The biathlete and avid sportswoman from Alaska is trying to make the squad that will travel to Turin, Italy, in February for the Winter Games. It would be a great finish to a career that includes a strong showing on the World Cup circuit and participation in the 2002 Olympics. The leaders of her sport and the U.S. Olympic movement are promoting her as possible medal material.

SALT LAKE CITY - The Baltimore-Washington area's quest to be host to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games took a big step forward yesterday - along with bids from New York, San Francisco and Houston - as the United States Olympic Committee cut in half the number of cities it was considering. The paring of what had been eight U.S. cities vying for the Games followed a unanimous vote by the committee designated by the USOC to tour those cities last summer and study their bids. Eliminated from the race for the 2012 Games were Cincinnati; Dallas; Los Angeles; and Tampa, Fla. "I expect it to be a tough competition," said Dan Knise, president and chief executive of the Chesapeake Region 2012 Coalition.

The Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games and the city yesterday announced the nomination process for the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Torch Relay, which is expected to bring the flame to Baltimore on Dec. 22. To become a torchbearer, the SLOC requires applicants to write an essay of 50 to 100 words that describes why they or their nominee should be chosen. Candidates may have inspired others to great achievement, been a source of inspiration in the community, embodied the inspirational spirit of the Olympic movement or motivated others by encountering and overcoming adversity.

SYDNEY, Australia - What began as a gentle childlike dream little more than two weeks ago ended in a wild party yesterday celebrating all things Australian and bracketing what have been hailed as the greatest Olympic Games of the modern era. From its fantastic start Sept. 15, when Olympic Stadium was transformed into a spectacular world of flying fish and spinning pinwheels, to the unofficial anthems "Waltzing Matilda" and "Land Down Under" that closed the Games, Sydney did its best to show the world Australia.

SYDNEY, Australia - As the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics were broadcast on tape on NBC last night, the Games were already splashing to a start on a crisp Saturday morning Down Under. It's amazing what a 15-hour time difference can do. A huge crowd watched female triathletes swim through Farm Cove at the foot of the Sydney Opera House and bike and sprint through the Royal Botanic Gardens, past the Art Gallery of New South Wales and under the Wooloomooloo Gate, framing an unforgettable Olympic postcard.

PASADENA, Calif. -- Swimming star Mel Stewart waltzed through the Beverly Center Mall last weekend wearing only a Speedo, which is not an everyday occurrence even in Southern California.He was doing a shoot for E!, the entertainment cable network, which recently named Stewart one of its "10 Sexiest Men in the World." Actually, he was re-creating a similar photo op that he did for his hometown newspaper in Charlotte, N.C.The two-time Olympic gold medalist apparently doesn't mind the attention.

The possibility that China could be selected by the International Olympic Committee September 23 to host the summer Olympic Games in the year 2000 has caused consternation among American human rights activists in Congress and elsewhere.On July 15 the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation convened a hearing on ''Prohibition of the Olympic Games in Beijing.'' Witnesses Anita DeFrantz, an American member of the International Olympic Committee, and Dr. Leroy Walker, president of the American Olympic Committee, warned that ''governmental-political'' intrusion in IOC decision-making might actually enhance the IOC's apparent attraction to China's candidacy.

I am as jaded as your average 45-year-old sportswriter. I have had it up to my eyeballs with athletes who aren't students, pushy parents, unscrupulous agents, manipulative coaches and the television programming executives who dictate what time the game is going to start. That said, I still haven't gotten my fill of the full-contact ballet that athletics at its highest level can deliver, so I am excited to be going to Sydney, Australia, tomorrow. This will be my first Olympics in the media pool, but I have had a long fascination with the international festival.

Peter G. Angelos - UP- Hello, reality. First the purge, and now the owner admits that signing Albert Belle was "a mistake." Nice call. Didn't Jerry Reinsdorf say the same thing? A Bittersweet Symphony, indeed. Ripken intrigue - DOWN - No contract offer and no clearance to play. A day after Ripken says he's ready to go, the club suggests otherwise. By the way, happy birthday. Alligator Alley - UP - The Orioles were once interested in merging their major- and minor-league spring operations.