Putin's power play iced Russia's win

By John Powers, Globe Staff  |  July 17, 2007

Geopolitically, the choice made sense. How could they not give the Winter Games to a place whose czar once declared that his two best generals were January and February? The Russians, who have more snow and ice than any country on the planet, have never staged this quadrennial sleighride. Clearly, they were overdue. But when the International Olympic Committee tapped Sochi as its 2014 host this month, the near-universal reaction was: Where's that?

Actually, Sochi is a resort city of considerable size (just under 330,000) on the "Russian Riviera," sitting between the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains. Stalin had a dacha there. But even the IOC's evaluation commission put it third among the three bid cities for very sound reasons: It doesn't have the necessary venues or infrastructure.

So why did Sochi outpoll Pyeongchang and Salzburg? Because Russian president Vladimir Putin did a fantastic schmooze job at the session in Guatemala City, convincing the Lords (in fluent English and French) that he would spend $12 billion to turn the place into a winter paradise.

"If Putin is not here, I think it would be different results," said IOC member Sergei Bubka, the former Soviet pole vaulter who represents Ukraine.

Indeed Pyeongchang, which had the best technical package, led after the first round of balloting. But when Salzburg was eliminated, Sochi picked up enough European votes to go over the top. What helped was that Pyeongchang, the Korean resort which almost upset Vancouver for the 2010 nod, would have had to do nearly as much building as Sochi. So the IOC bought into Putin's mountain-of-rubles promise. How could you doubt a man with a Super Bowl ring?

Why is Rio de Janeiro lavishing $2 billion (eight times the original estimate) on the Pan American Games? To show that it can host two bigger deals -- the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Rio had to scramble, but it got the essentials done in time for last Friday's opening ceremonies. The 2011 host will be Guadalajara (Mexico), with Caracas (Venezuela), Bogota (Colombia), and Lima (Peru) in the mix for 2015.

As usual, Uncle Sam is sending the second-string to the Pan Ams in most sports. The exceptions mostly are those that serve as Olympic qualifiers (e.g. field hockey, water polo) plus boxing (the Cubans are archrivals), wrestling, and weightlifting. Of the 595 athletes on the team, only 73 are Olympians, 20 of whom medaled at the Athens Games. Six Massachusetts residents are on the roster: field hockey players Kelly Doton (Greenfield) and Nate Coolidge (Sandwich), swimmer Tobias Work (Falmouth), equestrian Christopher Hickey (Westhampton), triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker (Sudbury), and archer Butch Johnson (Webster).

It's not unusual for the US athletes to hear catcalls at the opening ceremonies when the Pan Ams are held south of the border, but the Rio spectators were in full cry, incensed after someone wrote "Welcome to the Congo" on a message board at the USOC office there earlier in the week. Though team officials apologized and sent a staffer home, the Brazilians took it as a Yankee insult.

Now that London's numbers for the 2012 Games are approaching Big Dig levels -- the $18 billion budget is triple the original estimate -- the House of Commons has its knickers in a twist. The lawmakers' Public Accounts Committee, which watchdogs government spending, wants more centralized planning, especially for venue afteruse, and a tighter hand on expenses. "I will continue to keep an iron grip on the budget," vows Olympics minister Tessa Jowell . . . The Lords of the Rings have made it easier to add or drop sports from future Olympic programs. Instead of a two-thirds vote, a majority will suffice. The IOC also will keep the same 26 sports from the 2012 list for 2016, adding one or two. After that, there'll be a "core" of 25 for 2020, with one to be dropped and as many as three added. All seven sports on the Vancouver menu for 2010 will be kept for 2014, with "disciplines" within them, like women's ski jumping, possible additions. The Pan Ams, by the way, have added rugby and racquetball to the 2011 program, bringing the total to 36.

While Anita DeFrantz hinted that her defeat for a spot on the IOC's executive board might have stemmed from anti-American and anti-female feelings, the fact remains she was a long shot. Only one place was open and Norwegian incumbent Gerhard Heiberg, who chairs the vital marketing commission, won in a landslide. More telling was that DeFrantz, who was the first female vice president when she was elected a decade ago, managed only six of the 92 votes. While 45 percent of the Olympic athletes are women, only 16 of the 115 members are, and Sweden's Gunilla Lindberg is the only non-male on the 15-member board. "It is true that we don't have enough women, absolutely true," concedes president Jacques Rogge. Two of the four new members, though, are female -- Indonesia's Rita Subowo and Princess Haya of the United Arab Emirates. The Princess, the daughter of the late King Hussein, was the first Jordanian woman with a license to drive heavy trucks . . . Even more predictable than Heiberg's victory was the re election of all 27 members (including James Easton of the US) who were up for a vote. The reforms that were rammed through in the wake of the Salt Lake City bidding scandal require renewable eight-year terms. Even though it was a bloc vote (90-5 with four abstentions), Rogge, who was one of the 27, insisted that "this was not a rubber stamp." His presidential term is up in 2009, but he can run for a four-year extension.

Hoping to lure the young'uns of the world away from video games, the IOC is planning a Youth Olympics for 3,500 teenagers, starting with summer games in 2010 . "One can speak of screen addiction," said Rogge. "Multimedia, with its elaborate graphics . . . is sometimes more appealing than sport." All of the Olympic sports would be included, albeit with fewer events. The estimated price tag: $30 million. Moscow may well be the inaugural host . . . The new agreement between the USOC and the US Anti-Doping Agency takes the fight against banned drugs to a tougher, more focused level. Starting immediately, there'll be more no-notice tests (no less than 55 percent of the total), more involving blood (i.e. endurance sports) and more targeted to high-risk sports, which will be determined annually. Besides banning cheating athletes, the USOC and USADA will be going after their coaches, trainers, and agents if evidence implicates them. The World Anti-Doping Agency, meanwhile, wants to double the penalty for "aggravated" cases such as steroids to four years . . . The nine Americans who finished behind seventh-place Lyubov Denisova at this year's Boston Marathon received a financial windfall after the Russian's effort was nullified for testing positive for testosterone in March. Everybody was moved up a place and got more prize money . . . Wang Yan, the 16-year-old Chinese gymnast who broke her neck after falling from the bars at last month's national championships, is making a miraculous recovery. She's already said to be lifting her legs and raising her right arm and has been moved out of intensive care. "She has managed to conquer the most dangerous period," one of her doctors said . . . Back on the competitive mat is judoka Brian Olson, who's coming out of retirement to try for a fourth Olympic team at 34 and hoping to win his first medal. "I had a successful career, but that's the one thing that's eluded me," said Olson, who was a world medalist a decade ago.

John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com; Material from Olympic committees, international and domestic sports federations, interviews, and wire services was used in this report.