Former USOC Chief Offered Taekwondo Post

The head of the U.S. Olympic Committee when the Salt Lake City scandal broke is about to become vice president of an international sports group led by a powerful South Korean implicated in the case.

Former USOC president Bill Hybl has been offered the vice presidency of the International Taekwondo Federation, a source with knowledge of the offer said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In addition, Hybl was instrumental in helping his hometown of Colorado Springs, Colo., become host of this year’s meeting of the General Assn. of International Sports Federations, the umbrella organization of Olympic sports. Both the federation and GAISF are run by Kim Un Yong, an International Olympic Committee member who was censured in the million-dollar scam involving Salt Lake City’s winning bid for the Winter Olympics.

An IOC ethics panel handed Kim a “most severe” warning three years ago after it concluded he had used his position in international sports to further the careers of his son and daughter.

Hybl, whose term on the IOC expired last week, declined to discuss a position with the taekwondo federation. Kim was unavailable for comment. Last summer, Kim finished second in voting for the IOC presidency, defeating--among others--Dick Pound, the Canadian member who led the ethics investigation.

Hybl was USOC president from late 1996 until December 2000, and was in office when the scandal broke in November 1998. He commissioned an independent ethics investigation, headed that found “an improper culture of gift-giving” in the Olympic bid system.

Associated Press

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David Wallechinsky, Los Angeles freelance writer and internationally known Olympic historian, got twin surprises in Salt Lake City the last few days, when he was added to the prestigious list of those being awarded the Olympic Order.

Wallechinsky, of Santa Monica, who has written 20 books and perhaps received the most acclaim for his eight on the Olympics, arrived in Salt Lake City last week and soon was told that he would be accorded the Olympic Order. That was the first surprise.

The second was in the ceremony Sunday, in which the silver Laurel Wreaths signifying the honor were handed out by President Jacques Rogge of the International Olympic Committee. Besides Wallechinsky, the honor went to Irwin Belk, longtime USOC member; Eduardo Henrique de Rose of Brazil, longtime member of the IOC medical commission; and Peter Montgomery, vice president of the Australian Olympic Committee.

But after Rogge presented the awards, he said that, by protocol, only one person would be asked to speak for the group, and added, “Because David is a radio broadcaster, we invite him to say a few words.” Wallechinsky, who is working here for MSNBC and Westwood One, said he was both flattered and unprepared. “I did my best,” Wallechinsky said. “I just said that one would hope that receiving this award would not be the end of what all four of us did and will do for the Olympics.”

Wallechinsky, 54, was nominated by IOC member Pound. He said that, upon returning to the Westwood One broadcast facilities, his fellow workers referred to him as “Your Eminence.”

“I assume that will end soon,” he said.

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Aerial skier Jacqui Cooper, Australia’s best hope for a medal at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, ruptured a knee ligament in a nasty fall while training and will not be able to compete at the Games, Australian officials said.

Cooper, 29, a three-time World Cup champion, tore her anterior cruciate ligament when she landed awkwardly after a jump in Deer Valley, Utah, site of the freestyle aerial event.

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NBC continues to get solid ratings with its Winter Olympics coverage and easily beat the competition. NBC got a 17.6 rating with a 27 share for its third night of coverage Sunday, while ABC averaged a 6.4/10 for the same time period, Fox a 6.3/9 and CBS a 6.1/9.

The Los Angeles rating for Sunday night’s coverage was a 18.5/28, again beating the national average. And Salt Lake City again had the top local-market rating with a 37.0/57, followed by Portland with a 27.5/41 and Denver with a 24.3/36. San Francisco drew a 19.6/32.

The 17.6 national rating was NBC’s highest for a Sunday night since Game 6 of the NBA finals in 1998, when Michael Jordan’s last-second shot against Utah gave the Chicago Bulls their sixth NBA title. That game got a 22.3.

The 17.6, however, was lower than the 20.2 CBS got for its third night of Winter Olympics coverage in 1998. CBS’ first Sunday in Nagano, Japan, was highlighted by women’s figure skating and the 20.2 was the network’s third highest of the 17 days of the Games.

NBC also reported that Sunday’s NBA All-Star game delivered an 8.2/15 nationally, a 61% increase over last year’s 5.1/8. NBC credited the Olympic lead-in for the increase. In L.A., the All-Star game drew a 10.7/23.

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Times staff writers Bill Dwyre, Alan Abrahamson and Larry Stewart contributed to this report.