Gretzky Backs Vancouver Bid

A rumpled Wayne Gretzky, Southern California family man, part owner of a professional hockey team in Phoenix, appeared Tuesday in front of a fawning group of Canadian reporters, it being Canada Day, proclaiming himself a proud Canadian and avid booster of Vancouver’s bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Gretzky, NHL all-time goal-scoring leader, member of the 1998 Canadian men’s hockey team, overseer of the gold-medal-winning 2002 Canadian squad, survivor with his American wife of an evening out with Czech hockey pals Jaromir Jagr and Petr Nedved, told the assembled reporters that his appearance here symbolized “how proud I am to be a Canadian ... how much I believe in our country.”

With only hours to go before the International Olympic Committee’s selection today of the 2010 city, the atmosphere Tuesday veered toward the sublime and surreal -- maybe even loony, which is what Canadians call their $1 coin, and which every member of the Canadian bid team will take into today’s presentation, a charm evocative of the good-luck loony frozen in the ice at last year’s Salt Lake City Winter Games.

Vancouver is today’s favorite. Some, though, maintain that Salzburg, Austria, or Pyeongchang, South Korea, may yet pull a surprise.

IOC members will cast secret ballots and a simple majority could end the contest as quickly as the first ballot.

“The choice will be a difficult one, as all three candidates have the potential to stage excellent Games,” IOC President Jacques Rogge told the membership Tuesday night. The 2010 race has been shaped by the one for the 2012 Summer Games. New York is the U.S. candidate for 2012. Other cities bidding are London; Paris; Madrid; Moscow; Istanbul, Turkey, and Leipzig, Germany. Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paolo, Brazil, will bid later this month.

If Vancouver loses, Toronto, which finished second in the race for 2008, behind Beijing, will probably join the 2012 fray.

Widely believed here is that the IOC membership, nearly half European, will multitask by electing Vancouver:

A Vancouver win knocks Toronto out and strikes a blow at New York, since the IOC has always spread the Games around continents. A weakened New York will, theoretically at least, boost the chances of one of the European cities.

“If we win ... we’d like to win because we’re the best bid,” John Furlong, the president of the Vancouver bid, said. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is due here today for Vancouver’s presentation to the IOC before the vote, joining Gretzky and others.

For their part, New York 2012 bid officials have consistently maintained that it makes no difference to them which city wins the 2010 Games. Harvey Schiller, the former U.S. Olympic Committee executive director who serves as chairman of the management committee of the New York bid, said Tuesday, “New York would [make] a magnificent combination with any of the cities vying for 2010.”

If Pyeongchang gets the Games, the South Korean government has pledged to spend billions transforming what is now a relatively unknown provincial locale into a world-class ski and tourist destination.

Officials also hope to use the Games to promote prospects for peace. Korean delegates, South and North, reiterated Tuesday their interest in fielding a joint team for the Athens 2004 Olympics.