Help from the U.S. Olympic Committee could be on the way soon to Salt Lake organizers of the 2002 Winter Games.
USOC Executive Director Dick Schultz said Thursday he's come up with a plan to make experts on his Colorado Springs-based staff available to the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, if the Salt Lake committee wants them."We have a lot of people who have been through this many, many times. We think they could be a valuable asset and help (organizers) reduce costs and get up to speed a little quicker," Schultz said.
He suggested SLOC could benefit from hearing from such USOC officials as Mike Moran, head of media and public affairs, Jim Page of sports and Greg Harney of international Games preparation.
The USOC wouldn't necessarily send their top officials to work in the SLOC offices on a long-term basis. "Lots of times, it could just be someone in Salt Lake picking up the telephone and calling the person," Schultz said.
His plan has been submitted to SLOC Chief Executive Officer Frank Joklik and also circulated among key members of the organizing committee's board of trustees.
Schultz said he hopes to meet with Joklik and firm up the details by this fall. But SLOC's participation is strictly voluntary. "It's Salt Lake's call. It's not something we're going to force on them," he said.
Joklik has received a letter from Schultz detailing the USOC plan, according to SLOC spokeswoman Caroline Shaw. In a statement released through Shaw on Friday morning, Joklik said, "The USOC has always been an active supporter in our efforts to stage the Olympic Winter Games. As the national Olympic committee in this country, the USOC is naturally an important partner with the organizing committee."
The idea of the USOC offering its expertise to organizers of the 2002 Winter Games is not new. Schultz first proposed it publicly last fall after the leadership shake-up of the organizing committee.
Joklik replaced former Olympic boss Tom Welch, who resigned after being charged with spouse abuse. Welch had battled for years with the USOC over the terms of a joint marketing agreement.
With Joklik in charge, the two organizations are getting along much better - even with the USOC pushing to play a larger role in organizing the $1 billion-plus Games.
"I think it's fine," Schultz said of the relationship between the USOC and SLOC. "There's always the adjustment of going from a bid city where you want all the help you can get."
Once bidders are awarded the Olympic Games, Schultz said they tend to struggle for independence from other organizations, even those able to provide assistance.
That was the case with organizers of the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, who didn't want anything to do with the USOC. "There really wasn't anything there with Atlanta, and that created lots of problems," Schultz said.
Many of the problems centered around filling the needs of the Olympic teams coming from countries around the world, including making sure facilities were available for pre-Olympic practice.
Some of the competition sites in Atlanta weren't ready until just before the Summer Games began. Schultz said the construction schedules for preparing several Salt Lake area facilities could be accelerated.
The USOC knows what the teams will want because it's responsible for fielding the nation's Olympic team, just like the 80 or so other national Olympic committees expected to send teams to Salt Lake in 2002.