Atlanta Will Be U.S. Bid City for 1996 Olympics

The United States Olympic Committee’s executive board voted Friday for Atlanta over Minneapolis-St. Paul as the country’s bid city for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The USOC would not reveal the count of the secret balloting, but reliable sources who were present for the vote at the Washington Hilton Hotel said it was 65-42 in favor of Atlanta.

“The work just starts now,” Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young said.

After spending 15 months and $250,000 to win the USOC vote, Atlanta now will turn its attention to the International Olympic Committee, which will select the site for the 1996 Summer Games at its 1990 session in Tokyo.

Toronto and Athens are the only other cities that have submitted formal bids, but Frankfurt, West Germany; Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and Australian and British cities to be selected later also are expected to bid.

Considering that the Games were in Los Angeles in 1984 and the anticipated strength of other cities’ bids, even USOC officials have said that it is unlikely the Summer Olympics will return to the United States in 1996. USOC Executive Director Baaron Pittenger said it would be “an upset of major proportions” if a U.S. city wins the vote in Tokyo.

“We don’t believe that in Atlanta,” said Billy Payne, chairman of the Georgia Amateur Athletics Foundation, which sponsored the city’s bid. “But one thing we know for sure is that if we don’t make the effort, we won’t win.”

Payne said he believes that Young, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Carter administration, will play a major role in the international campaign.

Asked if he believes Toronto’s bid will damage his efforts in North and South America, Young said, “I’ve been accused of being a Third Worlder anyway, so maybe this isn’t my hemisphere.”

Jimmy Carnes, chairman of the USOC’s site selection committee, said that Atlanta won the vote because of its “organizational ability, quality (sports) venues, hotel accommodations, airline availability, an in-place rapid transit system and its proven ability to handle large numbers of people.”

Minneapolis-St. Paul officials said they spent $350,000 on their losing effort.

In other business Friday, the executive board voted without dissent to establish a training center in San Diego by 1991. The USOC has training centers in Colorado Springs, Lake Placid, N.Y., and Marquette, Mich., but San Diego will be the first in a climate conducive to year-around training.

The executive board also voted to establish its first Olympic academy, described by USOC officials as an Olympic think tank, in Olympia, Wash.

Executive board members also learned that the cost to the USOC of former executive director George Miller’s forced resignation last August was $700,000--$200,000 to buy out the remaining 16 months of his contract, $366,000 to buy his house in the exclusive Broadmoor area of Colorado Springs and $134,000 in perks, including insurance and annuities.

Treasurer Howard Miller said the USOC will recover a substantial portion of the money on the resale of the house.