The bribery scandal surrounding Salt Lake City's Olympic bid could still sap enthusiasm for the 2002 Winter Games, a leading member of the IOC's oversight team said Tuesday.
"I have been a little worried. If the court case is going . . . it could interfere with the enthusiasm of the people," Gerhard Heiberg, an IOC member from Norway and the head of the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, told the Deseret News editorial board.
"The reason why we had a fantastic success in Norway was the enthusiasm of the people shown through TV screens all over the world. My humble hope is that the court case will fade away and be finished before the Games start. I hope it will not interfere," he said.
Heiberg is one of nearly 40 members of the IOC Coordination Commission overseeing preparations for Salt Lake's Games. The commission's three days of meetings here end Wednesday.
The trial of former Olympic bid leaders Tom Welch and Dave Johnson is scheduled to begin in June. They face federal fraud, conspiracy and racketeering charges in connection with more than $1 million in cash and gifts given to IOC members in wooing their votes for Salt Lake's bid.
Heiberg said he feels "a little sorry and a little ashamed" that some of his colleagues don't want to come to Salt Lake City because of the scandal. "I don't think we should even think about it. It is a thing of the past, in my opinion. We have been through it."
He is the second IOC member in recent weeks to say that some of his colleagues don't want to come to Salt Lake. Prince Albert of Monaco said during a visit here in late February they fear being indicted or subpoenaed in connection with the U.S. government's case.
Although some members have suggested the IOC not meet in Salt Lake City before the 2002 Games as is traditional, Heiberg said there's no possibility that will happen. "Absolutely not. That has been decided. We are going to meet in Salt Lake City."
The bid scandal isn't the only controversy that could cast a shadow on the Salt Lake Games. Heiberg said the recent positive drug tests among cross-country skiers in Finland will heighten interesting in doping controls at the Games.
"There will be a lot of focus on this in Salt Lake City, whether organizers like it or not," Heiberg said.
The former Norwegian bank executive said he had his share of bad press before the Lillehammer Games began. The problem, he said, was that there was little for the press to report on before the opening ceremonies.
Heiberg's not the first to face such difficulties. Jean-Claude Killy, the legendary French skier who is now a member of the IOC, said Monday he had similar problems when he headed up the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France.
"In Albertville, I was getting so much bad press because nothing was happening in the town. I said, 'What do you want me to do? We cannot start the Games now,' " Killy told reporters.
Both Heiberg and Killy praised Salt Lake City's readiness with just under a year to go before the 2002 Games begin on Feb. 8.
Killy said Heiberg invited him to Lillehammer a year before the 1994 Games. Heiberg, Killy said, was nervous and wanted to know how his organizing committee was doing. "I said, 'You'll have fantastic Games.' He said, "It is not possible, we are not ready.' "
So Killy said he bet his Norwegian counterpart "the best bottle of red wine you can buy" that the Lillehammer Games would go well. They were, of course, widely recognized as the best Winter Games ever.
Killy, who ended up with a bottle of vintage French wine from Heiberg, offered to make the same bet Monday with SLOC President Mitt Romney. "You don't want the wine I'd buy," Romney laughed.
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