MOSCOW -- The International Olympic Committee sees itself as
a force that can change the world. It's about to decide whether
that force is worth a great risk -- and perhaps an even greater
reward.
|  | | A billboard in the Beijing International Airport reads "We wish Beijing success for the bid to host the Olympic Games." The key vote of the IOC comes Friday in Moscow. |
Unless something drastic happens in the final 24 hours, the
100-plus members of one of the world's most exclusive clubs are
expected to vote Friday to give the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing.
The capital of the world's most populous nation and one of the
final totalitarian strongholds of communism has been in front for
months, leaving competitors from Paris, Toronto, Istanbul and Osaka
searching for ways to get ahead.
So far, it seems they haven't found one.
"I think we're neck and neck," Toronto bid chief John Bitove
said in the closest any of the challengers have come to shouting,
"We're No. 1."
To vote for Beijing, IOC members must ignore calls from human
rights groups and members of Congress who argue that sending the
games to China would reward a repressive regime that regularly
imprisons and executes citizens and is holding American scholars
for doing no more than living their lives.
On Wednesday, protesters for a free Tibet gathered across the
Moscow River from the trade center where the IOC is meeting. They
unfurled a large banner featuring bullet holes in the place of the
five Olympic rings before riot police broke up the demonstration
and detained at least eight people.
As IOC members met Thursday with Russian President Vladimir
Putin to discuss the Olympic ideals of "peaceful, honest
competition," two more anti-Beijing activists were detained by
police for trying to hand out leaflets at the IOC press center. An
Associated Press photographer who was detained in Wednesday's
demonstration, Maxim Marmur, was released on personal recognizance.
But the lure of Beijing is strong.
The bid is solid, sharing the top ranking with Paris and Toronto
in the IOC's own technical evaluation. China is a nation of sports
fanatics and has been a loyal member of the Olympic community since
emerging from isolation almost three decades ago, ignoring the
Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and moving up
the medal charts ever since.
And there are two big plusses tailor-made for IOC minds -- taking
part in economic and democratic reforms that already are under way,
and busting open the world's biggest market with its corporate
sponsors.
"Beijing can be seen as presenting the chance to be an agent
for change," said Dick Pound, the Canadian member who heads IOC
marketing efforts and is running to be the committee's next
president.
Eight years ago, with the bloody memories of Tiananmen Square
still fresh, the IOC passed on that chance, choosing to go to
Sydney for the 2000 Games. Beijing led every round until the last,
when Sydney won by two votes.
Chinese officials think the IOC won't make that decision again.
"I am still full of confidence," said Tu Mingde, a senior
Beijing bid official. "I think the IOC members understand. ...
Yes, we have worries. But that only gives us more pressure to work
harder."
In the lobbies of the meeting halls across from the ornate old
Hotel Ukraine, still sporting it's Cold War-style stars and laurel
wreaths, Tu and other Beijing delegates have spent the last five
days trying to convince anyone who would listen that things back
home are changing and the Olympics would only push it along.
"The government has stepped up great efforts to develop parts
of our country, and the Olympic Games will be a catalyst to develop
further," Tu said. "I can't say how, but it will really help.
"It is like inviting a VIP to your house. You accelerate the
pace of your schedule. You buy nice mahogany furniture and nice
silverware when you invite the guest of honor for dinner. We don't
want to stop. We want to further develop."
On Wednesday, Beijing's efforts to be viewed as just another
bidder instead of a political hot potato received an extraordinary
boost from Salt Lake City Winter Games chief Mitt Romney.
At the end of a news conference to announce a new anti-drug
plan, Romney asked the IOC to consider Beijing's bid on its
technical merits and not be swayed by critics of China's
human-rights policies.
He said voters should take advantage of a "very unique time in
history" when superpowers are at peace by helping to open China to
the world.
"The Olympics are about building bridges, not building walls,"
Romney said. "We should not build walls that block communication
with other countries, even if we vehemently disagree with their
practices."
Asked if he was endorsing Beijing's bid for the 2008 Games,
Romney replied: "It is an endorsement for giving full
consideration to Beijing's bid, just as any other bid, on its
merits."
Romney himself got a boost Thursday when the IOC approved his
plan to flip the order of awarding medals at Salt Lake, with bronze
given first and gold last. The change, on a one-time test basis for
2002, is designed to build excitement and put a brighter spotlight
on the champions.
If the IOC again gets cold feet about Beijing, it can turn to
one of two other exceptional bids that in most campaigns would be
virtual locks -- Toronto, which stresses a compact layout; and
Paris, with good facilities, recent organization experience and
unmatched romance.
Istanbul and Osaka have stayed in the race, but have little
chance following evaluations that left them several degrees below
the other three in virtually all areas.
This is the first time a summer Olympics host will be picked
under rules adopted in the wake of the Salt Lake City bidding
scandal. Members are barred from visiting bid cities and only the
barest contact is allowed. That means the hour-long presentation
and question time each city gets Friday could be important.
The makeup of the IOC has changed because of the scandal, too.
It's bigger, with more representatives of athletes, sports
federations and national Olympic committees, and has not yet
developed a history of action.
"Thirty percent of our membership has appeared in the last few
years," Pound said. "Are they more political? We don't know."
Thomas Bach, a former Olympic fencer from Germany who's now an
executive board member, said the situation with Beijing is not much
different than any other decision the IOC makes.
"It's about how do you serve the mission best," he said.
"Risk and chance are always a balancing act." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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