LAUSANNE, Switzerland — If Thursday's ceremony inviting the world's Olympic teams to the 2002 Winter Games is any indication, the IOC still isn't expecting much from Salt Lake City.
International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch said he believes the Salt Lake Organizing Committee "will do its utmost to present to the world an Olympic Winter Games which meets the aspirations that we have."
Samaranch did not detail what those aspirations might be during the hourlong event held at the IOC's museum overlooking Lake Geneva.
He did say, in French, that his "most sincere wish" is for the Salt Lake Games to be crowned with success that will enhance the well-being of the athletes there.
Later, pressed by reporters who wondered if the bid scandal continued to taint Salt Lake City, Samaranch said "Next year it will be great Games in Salt Lake. The Games will be a big success."
The invitation ceremony is traditionally held exactly one year from the start of an Olympics. Past ceremonies have featured large delegations from the host city and live television links.
This year, because the IOC moved an executive board meeting scheduled to be held in Salt Lake to the African nation of Senegal, the ceremony was held a week early. Salt Lake's Winter Games are scheduled for Feb. 8-24, 2002.
The three-day IOC Executive Board meeting, which begins Monday, apparently was moved because some IOC members don't want to be in Salt Lake City during the federal prosecution of the city's former bid officials.
The next scheduled court date for Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, who are accused of trying to bribe IOC members in the selection of a Winter Games host city, is set for Feb. 8. in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.
SLOC was represented in Lausanne by a delegation of one, Ed Eynon, the organizing committee's senior vice president of human resources and international relations.
Eynon told the IOC staff and guests assembled in the museum hall for the late afternoon event that SLOC hoped to stage an "excellent and memorable winter encore to the success of Sydney."
The 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, were lavishly praised by Samaranch as the greatest Olympics ever, a pronouncement denied to organizers of the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.
In a 3 1/2-minute taped presentation, SLOC President Mitt Romney said organizers are excited about welcoming the world's national Olympic committees. "I think we'll exceed your expectations," Romney said.
IOC Director General Francois Carrard said Romney's decision to go to Washington, D.C., on business, instead of Lausanne, was not a cause for concern.
Carrard said this ceremony was more low-key than those held in the past because it was not able to be held on Feb. 8. "There is not less enthusiasm," Carrard said.
Samaranch, who will step down as IOC president later this year, dismissed questions about the invitation ceremony. "The important ceremony is the opening ceremonies of the Games," he said.
Salt Lake City wasn't even the focus of Thursday's event, which celebrated the U.N. declaration of 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers.
Leaders of volunteers from the past three Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan; Lillehammer, Norway; and Albertville, France were on hand to describe experiences.
The executive coordinator of U.N. volunteer program, Sharon Capeling-Alakija, said voluntarism and sports bring people together.
Eynon sat several seats away from Samaranch during the ceremony and was not invited to join the IOC president as he signed invitations that will be delivered to Olympic committees in the United States, Japan, Norway, Australia, Switzerland and South Africa.
Invitations will be sent via United Parcel Service to all of the 199 national Olympic committees recognized by the IOC.
E-mail: lisa@desnews.com