Seoul ’88 / Randy Harvey : Athens Seems Unable to Mount Successful Bid for 1996 Olympic Games

An oft-repeated misconception concerning the Olympic movement in recent years has been that Athens, Greece, is certain to win the bid for the 1996 Summer Games.

That assumption is based on sentiment, certainly not on logic. Although it may seem appropriate to celebrate the centennial of the modern Olympics at the site of the 1896 Games, it might be another 100 years before Athens actually can afford them.

Insisting otherwise have been influential officials in Greece’s Socialist government, but Athens’ Conservative mayor, Miltiades Evert, openly broke with them this week in an interview with an Athens newspaper, Elefterotypia.

Announcing that he had resigned from a committee established to study Athens’ candidacy because of its inefficiency, he said the cost of preparing for the Games would be $1 billion that the city could better use in other areas. He said that only 17% of the facilities that Athens would require are in place.

That corresponds with the thinking of many International Olympic Committee members, who have not encouraged Athens’ bid. They say the IOC would look favorably upon a centennial ceremony in Greece during the summer of 1996, but that the Games will be awarded to another city when the vote is held in 1990.

Among the cities eager to be considered for the 1996 Summer Olympics are Minneapolis-St. Paul and Atlanta. The United States Olympic Committee will designate one of them as the U.S. bid city for the 1996 Games in a vote Friday at an executive board meeting in Washington.

Minneapolis-St. Paul had been considered a slight favorite, having already sold itself once to the USOC when it was awarded the 1990 U.S. Olympic Festival. But Atlanta has impressed USOC members with its enthusiasm.

As in the Presidential election, a key issue is electability.

Besides Athens, other likely candidates are Toronto; Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Frankfurt, West Germany; a British city, either Birmingham or Manchester; and an Australian city, either Brisbane or Sydney.

IOC Vice President Richard Pound of Canada said he believes the Summer Games will return to North America in 1996 because of television and marketing considerations. With the ’88 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, and the ’92 Games in Barcelona, Spain, and with Beijing, China, figuring to make a strong bid for 2000, Pound said it will be North America’s turn in 1996.

It could be that Pound is casting an early vote for Toronto, which has been aggressively campaigning for two years. But if Pound is correct, and if Toronto falters, the U.S. city chosen Friday could be a serious contender.

So where would IOC members rather go, Atlanta or Minneapolis-St. Paul?

Probably Atlanta, USOC members contacted last week say. Atlanta has an impressive international airport, consulates from 34 nations and a mayor, Andrew Young, who was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Carter administration.

Young, a charismatic speaker, will make Atlanta’s presentation before the USOC executive board.

COMMENT: Georgetown’s John Thompson is one of the nation’s best college basketball coaches, but he is not the best coach for the U.S. Olympic team.

Thompson’s suggestion that the American Basketball Assn. of the United States is consorting with the enemy by inviting foreign teams, such as the Soviet Union, to tour the United States and play against college teams is evidence that he does not understand the Olympic movement or its ideals.

Thompson said he believes the United States’ advantage in international basketball is disappearing because of the ABAUSA’s eagerness to help develop the sport in other countries. Thompson could not have given the ABAUSA a better endorsement, although he surely did not intend it that way.

Lighten up, John. This is sports, not war.

Much has been made of the House immigration subcommittee’s vote to waive the mandatory 5-year waiting period so that Ivan Lendl can become a U.S. citizen in time for the Summer Olympics.

But even if the measure is approved by Congress, Lendl will not play for the U.S. team in Seoul, said Ed Fabricius, spokesman for the U.S. Tennis Assn.

As required by the International Tennis Federation, the United States submitted its team in December. Tim Mayotte and Brad Gilbert will play men’s singles for the United States.

Almost before they got the “home of the brave” out of their mouths after receiving their gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, figure skater Brian Boitano and speed skater Bonnie Blair were filming commercials. “I’m going to Disneyland,” they said.

With the Summer Olympics scheduled to begin less than five months from now, the USOC is sending all of its athletes to Disneyland.

Since the athletes will be coming to Los Angeles for processing on their way to Seoul, Aug. 29-Sept. 5, the USOC has made an arrangement with Disney for Olympians to ride each of those nights in the Electrical Parade. The USOC also will receive a portion of the money from each admission ticket sold during those days, said L.A. attorney Chuck Cale, a special assistant to USOC President Robert Helmick.

“Disneyland is a wonderful image for us to be associated with, and we’re a wonderful image for Disneyland to be associated with,” Cale said.

Initially, the USOC tried to interest a television network in televising a send-off ceremony for the U.S. team at the Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, the Hollywood Bowl or Dodger Stadium. But not only did the networks show no interest, the USOC found it would be virtually impossible to get all of the athletes in Los Angeles on the same day.

Guess which channel the USOC is attempting to interest in televising its athletes on parade. Did you say Disney?

Olympic Notes

Among other items to be discussed at this week’s USOC meetings in Washington will be whether to award an Olympic training center to San Diego. The USOC has three, at Colorado Springs, Colo., Marquette, Mich., and Lake Placid, but none are warm-weather sites. . . . George Steinbrenner is scheduled to report on plans for the overview commission that was formed to study the USOC.

The uncertainty over the future of the Griffith Park equestrian center has caused some concern for the organizers of the L.A. Olympic Festival, who have planned to use the facility. But they have plenty of time to consider alternatives if necessary. The L.A. Festival is scheduled for the summer of 1991.

Sprinter Alice Brown of Panorama City has been added to “Operation Seoul” by The Athletics Congress, the U.S. governing body for track and field. The 30 athletes in the program will receive about $14,000 for training expenses over a 10-month period. . . . U.S. women marathoners will compete in their Olympic trial Sunday in Pittsburgh. If Norwegian Ingrid Kristiansen, the world record-holder is to be believed, why should they bother? “The Americans don’t know how to run,” she said recently. “They could take lessons.”

U.S. gymnast Chelle Stack, the 14-year-old who trains for Bela Karolyi in Houston, tied for first in floor exercise with three Soviets Saturday at the USA-USSR McDonald’s Challenge in Phoenix. But Karolyi was hardly pleased with her overall performance. “That sucker did not give me much satisfaction,” he told Times staff writer Richard Hoffer. . . . Karolyi, who will be one of the U.S. gymnastics officials in Seoul, on his relationship with U.S. women’s coach Don Peters: “Well, I would not ask to be his wife.”