28 Feb. - 6 March 2002
Issue No.575
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 28 Feb. - 6 March 2002 Issue No.575 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
More like a nightclub
With a big sigh of relief and a star-studded celebration, Utah and America bid farewell to the Olympics on Sunday during a rollicking night of song and dance, a celebration of past athletic glory and a quick glimpse into the future.
At the opening ceremony, US athletes carried the tattered flag from the World Trade Centre into the stadium. Later, the American "Miracle on Ice" hockey team lighted the Olympic torch. While the opening truly did feel like a ceremony, the closing was a party -- irreverent, wild, rocking. As the athletes from 77 nations -- not all of whom got along well -- left their seats and danced on the colour-splashed stage, huge beach balls came down from the stands. The whole thing resembled a nightclub rave. Later, in a more serious moment, the Olympic flame that burned brightly for 17 days went dark.
The Americans won 34 medals at these Games, shattering their old record of 13. It still was not enough to put them ahead of Germany (35) in the total medal count.
The Russians and South Koreans showed up despite threats they might boycott the ceremony to protest what they believed was unfair judging.
The mass of skiers, skaters, snowboarders and sledders watched a ceremonial rite of passage -- the passing of the Olympic flag between the mayors of Salt Lake City and Turin, the Italian city that plays host to the 2006 games. Earth, Wind and Fire sang. So did Gloria Estefan. Tap dancers danced. Fireworks exploded.
Salt Lake City organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were happy and relieved. The Games were not tainted by violence. The traffic problems that many people predicted never materialised.
Now that the Olympics are leaving the nation for at least 10 years -- Athens, Turin and Beijing are the next three hosts -- the United States and the IOC will take an unflinching look at what went wrong and how to prevent future problems.
The tumult began in 1998, when members of the Salt Lake City Olympic bid committee were accused of bribing IOC officials to bring the games to Utah.
During the Games, a judging controversy in figure skating overshadowed almost everything else over the first 10 days. At the end, the Russians claimed there had been a North American judging bias and threatened to walk out.
Long before that, the Games were thrown into jeopardy because of the 11 September terrorist attacks.
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