Olympic Movement

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."

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- A delegation from the International Olympic Committee met with President F. W. de Klerk yesterday to discuss the prospect that South Africa be allowed to compete in the Olympics again after a 20-year ban.De Klerk assured the delegation that his government was dismantling the apartheid system of racial segregation that resulted in South Africa's expulsion from the Olympic movement in 1970."

Time will tell whether self-described "bully" Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey can repair the good name he lost when the United States Anti-Doping Agency revealed the truth behind his carefully crafted "narrative" of survival and sports glory. For me, to forgive Mr. Armstrong or not isn't the issue. Instead, Mr. Armstrong's fall illustrates how effectively we regulate Olympic movement athletics in the United States, and how that model for regulation can enhance the integrity of college and professional sports.

EXPULSION of six International Olympic Committee members, joining four who quit, is one step out of the pit the IOC has dug for itself. But alone it does not end the scandal by proving the IOC is purging itself of corruption. Nor does it restore the credibility the Olympic movement requires.The Justice Department is investigating reported bribery in the selection of Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Games. Bills before the U.S. Senate would strip tax exemption from Olympic activities.In fairness, the IOC promises to do more, including cooperate with a U.S. Senate investigation and create an outside ethics commission and a commission to plan structural reform.

The executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee said that Maryland remains a viable candidate to host the U.S. Olympic Festival."You've got a lot of good sports people in that state, in the collegiate environment and the Olympic movement," Harvey Schiller said Friday from Colorado Springs, Colo. "You've also got good organizers and marketers who can move forward. It would be tremendous to have the events in the Baltimore-Washington area."Friday Mr. Schiller held his first conversation with state officials since the investigation into the Maryland State Games -- the body that created the bid to be festival host -- was disclosed.

THE reason the word Olympics is respected all over the world is that it is full of humanitarianism and represents the good and honest nature of mankind.But there are exceptions.Just as many malicious things are committed under the guise of good intentions, the Olympics, a magnificent thing itself, conceals many evil doings contrary to the Olympic spirit.One such case involves a Chinese citizen, Qin Yongmin, who was arrested and illegally put in a labor camp for opposing the government's bid to play host to the 2000 summer games.

LOS ANGELES - In a step that could lead to the loss of certification for the U.S. governing body for track and field, the U.S. Olympic Committee has imposed financial and other sanctions against USA Track & Field because of its refusal to turn over files relating to a U.S. sprinter who tested positive for a banned steroid in 1999, but won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The USOC has handed down a three-part series of sanctions, including the suspension of about $3 million that flows annually from the USOC to the U.S. track and field body.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - An apparent drunken-driving accident Monday afternoon ended what was expected to be one of the feel-good stories of the Winter Olympics. Jack Shea, who won two gold medals in speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics, died early yesterday from injuries he suffered in a car accident less than a mile from his home. As the senior member of three generations of Winter Olympians - a first - the 91-year-old had become a media star in his hometown, the scene of his athletic triumph.

THE International Olympic Committee will meet March 17 to consider bribery allegations against 13 of its members. This is in addition to the 9 who have resigned or been expelled and more who have been named in connection to Salt Lake City playing host to the 2002 Winter Games. To date, some 30 of 115 former IOC members are under a cloud involving bribes and extortion in the award of bids to Olympic cities.The Olympic movement is no better than the integrity of its competitions. Quite obviously, that extends to the self-perpetuating IOC itself.

HOSTING the 2008 Olympic Summer Games may bring out the best in China's effort to modernize, including environmental and infrastructure improvements combined with restraint in human rights and East Asian relations. Or it might reinforce the worst. The 1936 Berlin Games and 1980 Moscow Games did that for other dictatorships. From the International Olympic Committee's perspective, picking Beijing made sense. It recognizes the planet's most populous country, which rejoined the Olympic movement in 1984 after a 32-year boycott, is improving in sports and narrowly lost the 2000 Games to Sydney.