Games to open with Russians still in doubt
PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA — The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics open in two days, but the issue of which Russians are in — and which are out — is dominating the agenda of IOC president Thomas Bach.
As Bach presides Wednesday over meetings with roughly 100 IOC members, the Court of Arbitration for Sport — sport’s top legal body — is expected to decide appeals by 32 Russian athletes seeking spots in the games.
The 32 failed to pass mandatory International Olympic Committee vetting, imposed as a result of Russian doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee expects 168 Russian athletes to compete under the neutral banner of “Olympic Athletes From Russia.” Hundreds more have been barred, and many have gone to court seeking entry and causing last-minute chaos. U.S. flag bearer: Four-time Olympian Erin Hamlin will carry the U.S. flag during the opening ceremony at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced.
Hamlin, whowonabronzemedalin the luge at the Sochi Games in 2014, was selected by a vote of U.S. Olympians.
“Being named to an Olympic team is an amazing accomplishment and making four teams and the bronze medal is so much more than I could have imagined I would accomplish,” Hamlin said in a statement. “Now being voted flag bearer is a whole new level.”
The women’s luge competition starts Feb. 12. Salt Lake 2030 bid: Salt Lake City on Wednesday became the first U.S. city to announce its intentions to bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics as this year’s 6 to 10 a.m. (NBC Sports Network) Mixed-doubles curling (live) Ski jumping: men’s individual, normal hill 8 p.m. – midnight (NBCSN and chs. 11, 4)
Mixed-doubles curling, men’s Alpine skiing, men’s luge
Figure skating: team competition, freestyle skiing (prime-time on chs. 11, 4) games get ready to kick off in South Korea.
The city’s Olympic exploratory committee concluded that Utah could host the Winter Games again without losing money thanks to existing venues and the budget expertise of a team that put on the 2002 Olympics.
The committee’s 140-page report, which includes a budget estimate of $1.35 billion, will be sent to the U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee, said Fraser Bullock, Utah panel co-chairman. Bullock will be in Pyeongchang this month and plans to meet with officials.
Utah’s bid would focus on Salt Lake City being a reliable, experienced Olympic city that could host at a lower cost than other places, which state officials believe aligns with the IOC’s “Agenda 2020” blueprint for future Olympics. It calls for fewer billiondollar projects and more venues already in place.
Salt Lake City could face competition from Denver and Reno, Nev., which are considering bids. Internationally, cities weighing the move include Sion, Switzerland; Calgary, Canada; Stockholm, Sweden; and Sapporo, Japan.
Salt Lake City, which prefers the 2030 Winter Games but is open to 2026, has a “reasonable” chance because of its history of hosting alpine events and the success of the 2002 Olympics, but the IOC would prefer a European city for at least one of those slots, according to Chicago-based sports-finance consultant Marc Ganis.
European voters have consistently rejected Olympic plans since Russia spent $51 billion on infrastructure for the 2014 Sochi Games. Voters in Austria last year rejected a proposed 2026 bid by two-time host Innsbruck. Only two cities bid for the 2022 Winter Games. Virus scrambles plans: Signs posted around the Olympic venues urge extreme caution. Nine hundred troops stream into the area to help. Worried organizers sequester 1,200 people in their rooms.
Officials are scrambling on the eve of the biggest planned event in South Korea in years — not because of anything related to North Korea and national security, but in an attempt to arrest the spread of norovirus at the Pyeongchang Games.
Local media are fretting over a “virus panic.” South Koreans, always quick to air their views online, have poured scorn on the government’s response and preparations. Are the games hygienic? What will people think about South Korea? Could this spread to the athletes?
Norovirus fears may turn out to be much ado about nothing. But with a national reputation on the line, officials are scrambling to contain its spread. No one here wants these games associated more with disease than athletics in the manner that Zika, a mosquito-borne disease that causes rare birth defects in a small proportion of cases, loomed over the Rio Olympics in 2016.