LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- There isn't an advertising agency anywhere from Salt Lake City to the Adirondacks capable of creating an image as lasting and rich as the "Miracle on Ice."
Remember that 1980 celebration, when an affable collection of American college kids shocked themselves and the world by defeating the powerful Soviet hockey team to claim Olympic gold? That same year speedskater Eric Heiden climbed to the top of the medal podium five times -- a Winter Olympics first. Perhaps you even recall ice queen Sonja Henie legitimizing figure skating as a first-rate, international sport at the 1932 Games."And whenever you think about any of these (sports moments), you think of Lake Placid," said the village's mayor, T. James Streck.
Indeed, organizers for Salt Lake's 2002 Winter Games may yet come up with the most effective marketing campaign in Olympics history -- but ultimately the competing athletes and teams will determine the world's lasting memories of Utah's Games, Streck said.
Those sorts of images cannot be bought, the mayor said. They can't be developed, tested or designed.
Lake Placid hosted the Winter Games in 1932 and 1980. Streck told the Deseret News he and many of his constituents would like to host them again one day.
"But even if we never get another Olympics, our name is in the limelight," he said. To this day, locals refer to their village in the Adirondack shadows as "the winter sports capital of the world."
On Wednesday, Lake Placid welcomed the inaugural Winter Goodwill Games, with the five-day event beginning with opening ceremonies at the historic Olympic Ice Arena, site of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" hockey tournament. About 6,000 attended the event, with festivities ranging from performances by Bruce Hornsby to a tribute to one-time Olympic host and war-torn Sarajevo.
Approximately 500 of the world's best winter sports athletes from more than 20 countries will participate in four days of skiing, sledding, skating and snowboarding.
Goodwill organizers have enlisted the tag: "Where the World's Best Prove It." In two years, the Salt Lake area will have to prove to the world it, too, is a first-rate winter sports site. Do a good job and the benefits of being an Olympic host city will be realized long after the closing ceremonies, Streck said.
Being an "Olympic City" prompted a measured boom in Lake Placid. Before the '32 Games, Lake Placid may have been best known as a wooded retreat for New York City mobsters seeking a little peace outside Gotham.
"But hosting the Games led to secondary housing development, an Olympic training center, condominiums" and securing several international and regional winter sports events, like World Cup competitions and the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games.
Nevertheless, Lake Placid has endured its share of Olympic-related goofs. Complaints about transportation between venues is one lasting memory of the '80 Games that Lake Placiders wish they could forget. A Canadian-based busing company contracted to do much of the shuttling went on strike the first day of competition.
Later, the Empire State had to bail the village out of a $5 million Olympic debt, Streck said.
Still, all in all, "we exceeded our expectations." he said.
The mayor's advice for Salt Lake officials is simple: Keep all those shiny new ski jumps, bobsled tracks and other facilities well-greased long after the Games.
"The big thing that Salt Lake City has to do is keep its venues up, don't let them deteriorate," Streck said.
That's exactly what happened to some of Lake Placid's facilities until private dollars were raised to make refurbishments. A little touch-up and paint was likely pivotal in grabbing the attention of media baron Ted Turner and his Goodwill Games.
"We had a dream that someday we would have a Winter Goodwill Games, and here it is," Turner said
during Wednesday's opening ceremonies at the Olympic Center in downtown Lake Placid.
New York Gov. George Pataki, greeted with boos and cheers, said that the Goodwill Games represent "the value of sports and the spirit of sportsmanship."
Many of the Goodwill athletes are Olympic veterans. Many will be competing at the 2002 Olympics, so these games give Utahns and others around the world a chance to become familiar with athletes they will be seeing in two years.
The popular women's figure-skating competition will feature several former Olympic champions, including Oksana Baiul, Katarina Witt -- even Dorothy Hamill. Nancy Kerrigan will also skate. No, Tonya Harding was apparently not invited.
Impatient winter sports fans who get restless watching the traditional preliminary rounds in Olympic competitions will enjoy the Goodwill Games format, which features a predominately finals-only format with no preliminary or qualifying heats. Some events feature elimination rounds, culminating in a gold medal final.
Sports include alpine skiing, bobsled, cross-country skiing, figure skating, freestyle skiing, luge, nordic combined, short track speedskating, skeleton, ski jumping and snowboarding.
The 2001 Summer Goodwill Games will be held in Brisbane, Australia. The land down under is also hosting the Olympics' upcoming 2002 Summer Games, beginning this September in Sydney.