WASHINGTON — When it comes to the look and feel of the Olympics, the chief organizer of the 2002 Winter Games issued a blunt warning Saturday: Don't expect the wonder of Down Under on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
Mitt Romney, head of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, said money would keep the next games from matching the visual splendor of the Sydney Olympics, which ended Oct. 1 with the label of the greatest ever staged.
But Romney also told the board of directors of the U.S. Olympic Committee that Salt Lake City — home of the worst corruption scandal in the games' history and facing barrels of red ink just a year ago — had overcome the worst of its problems and was ready to stage a memorable event with the focus on the competitors.
"These are going to be Games about the athletes," he said.
Romney's address highlighted the opening day of the two-day board meeting, where the first steps are expected to be taken toward healing extensive damage incurred recently to the image and workings of the USOC.
Against the backdrop of a jingoistic celebration of a world-leading 97 medals from Sydney, the 115-member board votes Sunday on a new leader, with current vice presidents Sandra Baldwin and Paul George in what appeared to be an increasingly close race for the position formally known as the chair.
"They are out there plugging," said Bill Hybl, whose four terms as chair end Sunday. "I think that is healthy for the organization."
Later in the day, the newly elected executive committee will decide whether to give the day-to-day control of the $100 million-a-year USOC to Scott Blackmun on a permanent basis. Blackmun, a former lawyer and sports director for the committee, has been interim CEO since the resignation of Norman Blake last month, and said Saturday he would continue with the temporary title if the panel decided on a wider search.
Blake's departure after only nine months on the job was the latest setback for the USOC. It already was dealing with low morale, a tightening financial position expected to create no better than a break-even budget over the next four years, and allegations that it ignored drug use by U.S. Olympic athletes.
The Salt Lake scandal also has touched the USOC. Investigators said it failed to do enough to keep tabs on Utah bidders, which led to more than a million dollars in graft showered on members of the International Olympic Committee. Ten IOC members were expelled or resigned and the two top officials of the bid team go on trial on federal bribery-conspiracy charges in June, eight months before the Salt Lake Games begin.
Romney, a successful venture capitalist in Boston, was hired in early 1999 to try to restore the luster to the Salt Lake project and get its finances in order.
The money part looks good. Romney told the board that a budget gap of $378 million had been whittled to $6.6 million and would be break-even by the time the Olympic Flame is lighted.
But to get there, he said, SLOC had made "pretty substantial cuts" in expenses, many of them influencing how the games will look to the outside world.
"Do not expect that we will have the same spectacle as Sydney," he said. The Australian city made the most of its harbor, with the graceful bridge and opera house a backdrop for many sports and entertainment events.
"Thank goodness the Lord took care of the mountains for us," Romney said. The Salt Lake organizer also said he expected no fallout from the scandal with the public.
In other action:
The board added the American Legion as its 115th member and gave the U.S. Modern Pentathlon Association until Feb. 1 to comply with rules on budget and management or face expulsion.
Hybl renewed his call for a federal income-tax checkoff for Olympic funding. Such a move, which has hit congressional and IRS resistance in the past, would add up to $100 million to USOC funds.
The board unanimously agreed to allow Hybl to retain the USOC's seat on the IOC, even after he leaves office.