With two years to run, Coe says London in 'killing zone' of its Olympic preparations race

The London 2012 Olympic Stadium as it looked earlier this month. (Associated Press / Kirsty Wigglesworth)

By Philip Hersh

Tuesday marks two years to go to the July 27, 2012 opening of the London Summer Olympics.

To the man running the 2012 organizing committee, it is like being in the back straightaway of an 800 meters you are expected to win.

``It's the killing zone in the 800,'' Seb Coe said Friday.  ``Everything you do in the back straight determines the platform you create in the finishing straight.''

And who knows that feeling better than Coe, one of the greatest middle-distance runners in history, who won two Olympic silver medals in the metric half mile and held the world record for the distance from 1981 through 1997?

``I broke 13 world records, and I don't intend to break the 14th by being the first president of an organizing committee not to have it ready on the day we're supposed to,''  Coe said during a conference call with international media.

And the biggest danger at this point in a race that began when the International Olympic Committee awarded London the Games in July, 2005?

``That you're not in the right position to get it across the line,'' Coe said.  ``This is the business end of the race now.  You don't want to make errors, you don't want to be off the pace.''

As boss of the London 2012 organizing committee, the two-time Olympic champion at 1,500 meters has run an operation that flew on the fast track of the world economic boom and now must deal with the consequences of the world economic bust.

While London 2012 is responsible only for the operation of the Olympics and Paralympics,  it inevitably is seen as sharing guilt for the tremendous cost increases involved in the government's massive urban redevelopment project that is part of London's Olympic Park.

The government's Olympic budget has more than doubled from the $6.1 billion projected in 2005, and the Olympic Park costs continue to be the flash point for critics of the London Olympics. 

The head of Britain's treasury this week announced an austerity budget that will include higher taxes and across-the-board government spending cuts of 25 percent over the next four years.  Coe said that situation will not affect London 2012 planning, although the government said in May it was cutting some $42 million from the Olympics budget.

``I don't think we're doing anything today we wouldn't have been doing any way,''  Coe said.  ``We won the bid in the high water mark of the world economy, but at the time it was central to the bid that we deliver the Games in a responsible, sustainable way.

``Of course, you wake up each morning wanting to do it in a more cost effective way but one that doesn't impact the client groups you're out to deliver a memorable Games for.   I recognize we are in an economic climate where we have to make a very strong argument that this is a project of national interest.''

Coe insisted the jobs being created and maintained by Olympic venue construction and Olympic Park rehabilitation are a boon to the British economy, particularly during the current economic crisis.

Asked whether London 2012 felt any discomfort with having BP as a principal sponsor, given its image as the villain in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Coe simply reaffirmed his support for a company that has been London's Olympic partner since the bid phase.

``We have a world-class business that shares our vision and are a fabulous partner and will be our partner right the way through,'' Coe said of BP.

On a more mundane matter, Coe said there have been no ongoing discussions with NBC, the U.S. television rights-holder, about moving event times to accommodate a U.S. audience.  That would be very difficult, given that London is only five hours ahead of New York -- but some have speculated about midnight events for NBC's benefit.

NBC got Beijing organizers to switch swimming and gymnastics finals to the morning in China so, with a 12-hour time difference to New York,  they aired during U.S. prime time.

``In one of the first conversations I had with Dick (NBC sports chief Dick Ebersol), he raised the subject, and he was very clear he was working in a very benign time zone with us and was very happy to allow us to set the time schedule as we felt it most benefited the Olympic movement.  There has been no pressure at all (for time changes).''

Coe knows time, in the general sense, no longer is his ally in preparing for July 27, 2012.  For a man who spent decades racing not only rivals but the clock, that pressure is welcome.

``I get more excited every day the Games gets closer,'' he said.  ``I'm a competitor.  Bring it on.''

Lower photo: Sebastian Coe beats teammate Steve Cram for the 1,500-meter gold at the 1984 Olympics, when Coe became the only man to win two golds in the metric miler.  (Associated Press / Dave Tenenbaum.)

USA-Canada hockey sets TV viewing records for NBC

Canada's 3-2 win over the U.S. in the Olympic gold medal hockey game Sunday was seen by an average of 27.6 million, the most-viewed hockey game in any setting since the 1980 Lake Placid Gold Medal game in the year where the U.S. capped off its "Do you believe in miracles," semifinal win over the Soviet Union by beating Finland in the final game.

The tape-delayed Feb. 24, 1980, U.S.-Finland game had 32.8 million viewers, and the semifinal game against Russia (also tape-delayed) averaged 34.2 million viewers. The 2002 Salt Lake City gold medal game, also between the U.S. and Canada, was seen by 17.1 million in comparison.

“We’ve been fortunate to have a front-row seat to observe a nation of fans that appreciates winter sports, is proud of their winter sport heritage and celebrates success, no matter which country wins. So it was only fitting yesterday when Sidney Crosby scored the goal to give Canadians the gold that meant so much to this country,” said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics.  “ ‘O Canada’ will never be the same.”

According to the Nielsen Co., the viewing audience peaked at 34.8 million viewers between 2:30 and 3:06 PST, when Team USA's Zach Parise sent the game to overtime with 24.4 seconds left in regulation. 

Philip Hersh: A Candide conversation with IOC President Jacques Rogge

Today's "Candide" prize for an unbridled walk on the bright side goes to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge (pictured, with President Obama).

He gets a copy of not only the 18th-century satire, titled "Candide, or Optimism,'' but also of  "Home on the Range,'' for seldom was heard a discouraging word from Rogge during a 30-minute conference call today about the upcoming Vancouver Winter Games.

Sorry about the mix of Voltaire and the motto on Kansas' vanity license plates, but you get the idea: fromhis answers to the questions I asked during the teleconference, Rogge's view makes pretty much everything look for the best in this best of all possible Olympic worlds. 

Q.  IOC member Dick Pound of Canada recently said figure skating is a "nightmare sport''  and is far from resolving the problems that caused the pairs skating scandal at the 2002 Winter Games.  Will there be another Winter Olympic figure skating scandal in North America, or is it likely everyone will be satisfied -- or as satisfied as anyone can be with judging in the sport-- with the the results in Vancouver? 

Rogge: You know there was some commotion and emotion in Salt Lake City.  We upgraded the Canadian pair, [Jamie] Sale and [David] Pelletier, and we also asked the ISU [skating's international federation] to change the judging system.... By and large, I would say the athletes are happy with that and that the national federations are happy with that.... I think today the public can be confident in the fairness of the results.

Q.  Is anyone at a higher level going to ask the Russian Figure Skating Federation or Russian Olympic Committee if its ice dancers might reconsider the choice of a costume that has offended the Australian Aboriginal community and caused worldwide controversy  [for its cultural insensitivity]?

Stephen Colbert talks with Dick Ebersol, 'competes' against Shani Davis

With the Winter Olympics less than a month away, it was time for Comedy Central show host Stephen Colbert to test his dedication to the Games.

NBC Sports and Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol appeared on "The Colbert Report" on Wednesday and asked Colbert if he'd like to be a part of the network's Olympics coverage. Colbert said he wouldn't mind as long as he got the right title: "I kind of like host of 'The Tonight Show.'"

You can watch the entire exchange (including Ebersol's funny plea to the Colbert Nation) on the video below:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Dick Ebersol
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

While Ebersol gave the comical pundit permission to be a part of NBC's Olympics coverage (they don't give out those NBC sweaters to just anyone), Colbert's dream of making the U.S. speedskating team was shattered by Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis. As you may recall, these two have shared a tumultuous past. Check out the video:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Skate Expectations - Speedskating Race - Shani Davis
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

-- Austin Knoblauch

Blogging in the new year: More Olympic TV coverage, more laughable figure skating scores

Happy new year!

Only 5 1/2 weeks to the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

And it's already clear that Olympic junkies will have no trouble getting their TV fix this February.

The flagship Olympic network, NBC, will have about the same amount of original programming coverage (121 hours) as it did at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. The NBC Universal cable networks that boosted the total Turin coverage to 416 hours will also have a significant presence.

And Universal Sports, the Olympic network within the Olympic network that was only an Internet operation four years ago, will announce Monday that it has programmed five hours daily of live news, talk and information during the entire Feb. 12-28 Vancouver Winter Games.

The Universal programming begins with a 90-minute news center. That will be followed by half an hour of highlights from presentations and concerts at medal ceremonies; a half-hour "Meet the Olympic Press"; a one-hour replay of the news center; a 30-minute preview and review show; and a "Vancouver Figure Skating Hour."

(Full disclosure: I will be among the panelists on "Meet the Olympic Press.'')

There will also be continuous news updates. But no live or delayed action from the same day's events; that belongs to NBC.

Depending on Vonn

Other than Lindsey Vonn and her family, no one was happier than NBC Sports & Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol to learn the skier was not seriously injured in her crash last week.

Vonn is clearly the marquee athlete in NBC's mind, and her expected presence in all five alpine events gives the network a chance to create a miniseries out of her races.

But Ebersol has no intention of building Michael Phelps-like expectations for Vonn. The NBC boss knows weather and changes in course conditions create too many variables in skiing results. "There are,'' Ebersol told me, "no 5-foot waves all of a sudden in one lane of a swimming pool.''

On paper, Vonn is a solid favorite in downhill and super-G, even money in super combined and a medal contender in slalom. If she leaves Vancouver with a single gold medal, her Olympics will have been a resounding success.

The Shani Davis mystery

It would be nice to know why speedskater Shani Davis changed his mind about skating team pursuit at the Olympics.

At the mid-December World Cup in Salt Lake City, the 2006 Olympic champion said he would be focusing in Vancouver on the 1,000 and 1,500 meters and the team pursuit. "Those three,'' Davis said.

Davis apparently changed his mind before the Dec. 24 deadline for skaters to declare their Olympic intentions to U.S. Speedskating. He declined to be in the four-skater pool for team pursuit, preferring to compete in all five individual events, even though he would have had a great chance to win gold in pursuit but is at best a longshot for a medal in the 500, 5,000 and 10,000.

Although Davis has not commented publicly on that decision, it is possible that he simply thought team pursuit would be too much of a distraction, especially given the controversy that erupted at the 2006 Olympics when he opted out of consideration for the event. All that history probably would have been rehashed ad nauseam.

And there could have been more controversy if Davis joined the team pursuit selection pool, then felt compelled not to race in Vancouver for any number of legitimate reasons.

Tim Burke hype

It's time to give some perspective to Tim Burke's having become the first U.S. biathlete ever to lead the World Cup overall standings in the sport.

Burke's achievement is noteworthy, but it would be a stretch to say it makes him a strong contender to become the first U.S. medalist in biathlon.

Had biathlon legend Ole Einar Bjorndalen of Norway not skipped the last three World Cup races, he almost certainly would be the overall leader.

Although Burke finished second and third in races at this season's first World Cup, his best finish at a world championship is a seventh in 2007. At last year's worlds, his best was an 11th.

The three most celebrated World Cup events are upcoming: at Oberhof, Germany, this week, followed by Ruhpolding, Germany and Anterselva, Italy. Should Burke produce several top-six results in those races, it would be appropriate to crank up the hype for him.

Posing with Evgeny Plushenko

Just what a joke the new scoring system in figure skating has become was apparent in the scores that judges gave 2006 Olympic champion Evgeny Plushenko at the recent Russian Championships.

Plushenko got 100.09 points in the short program -- nearly 10 points more than the best "official'' score in history -- despite a performance he called "far from perfect,'' with a flawed landing on a triple lutz and his usual weak, lugubriously slow spins. Then he got 171.50 -- which would be No. 2 on the all-time list -- for a free skate with five clean triple jumps (and a quad), more poor spins (he risks being arrested for loitering on the combination spin) and a lot of posing.

It makes no difference that scores at national events are not considered for the all-time lists. Making a mockery of them creates a mess where other national judges feel compelled to boost their skaters by giving equally ludicrous scores.

In his comeback after a three-year absence, Plushenko has skated only in Russia (two domestic, one international event) and received overinflated marks every time. It will be interesting to see what kind of scores he gets at the European Championships this month in Tallinn, Estonia.

-- Philip Hersh

Top photo: Lindsey Vonn leaves the slopes with her arm in a sling after a Dec. 28 giant slalom crash in Austria. Nothing broke, but Vonn is skiing with a brace on her arm. Credit: Marco Trovati / AP.

Bottom: Evgeny Plushenko strikes a pose in a Grand Prix event this season. Credit: Yuri Kadobnov / Getty Images.

Countless hours of coverage in NBC's 2010 Olympic countdown [Updated]

Want to know why the International Olympic Committee immediately backed NBC when it became angry over the prospect of a U.S. Olympic Network?

Yes, the $5.7-billion NBC paid for U.S. broadcast rights to the Summer and Winter games from 2000 through 2012 had something to do with it. So when NBC was angry the U.S. Olympic Committee did not cut a deal with its "mini'' Olympic network, Universal Sports, the IOC told the USOC to cease and desist on the launch of its own planned network for the immediate future.

But there is another reason why the IOC loves its U.S. rights-holder, and that will start to be evident Nov. 4 when NBC launches its "Countdown to Vancouver,'' 100 days before the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Games.

The IOC wants to drum up interest in both the next Olympic Games and the idea of the Olympics.

Never has a U.S. broadcaster committed to an effort of the scope that NBC has planned to promote both its own upcoming Olympic coverage and the Olympics in general.

Using all its broadcast platforms, including NBC, Universal Sports, MSNBC, CNBC and the Weather Channel, NBC will air more than 1,250 hours of pre-Olympic winter sports competition, plus a variety of other Olympic-related segments beginning with the Nov. 4 "Today" show.

That night there will also be a prime-time Olympic segment across all the networks featuring U.S. Olympic champions Shaun White (snowboard) and Apolo Anton Ohno (short track speedskating) and the designated star-to-be of the 2010 Winter Games, alpine skier Lindsey Vonn.

[Updated 4:45 p.m. Tuesday] Expect NBC to give Vonn the Michael Phelps treatment as she goes after medals in several events. The difference is skiing is so much less predictable than swimming that no one would dare suggest Vonn should win multiple gold medals, even if she is the favorite in downhill, Super-G and combined. (An earlier version of this article said: The difference is skiing is no much less predictable than swimming that no one would dare suggest Vonn should win multiple gold medals, even if she is the favorite in downhill, Super-G and combined.)

The things Vonn can't control, like wind gusts that might hit during her run but affect none of the other skiers (which is entirely possible), mean her superior ability can be negated. That's just the inherent injustice of the sport, which is why skiers chant the mantra that the season-long World Cup is a better reflection of an athlete's prowess.

Vonn opened the 2009-10 World Cup season last Saturday with a solid ninth in giant slalom, her weakest event.

You can see plenty of Vonn on the NBC pre-Olympic event coverage, since it will broadcast (on NBC Sports, Universal Sports and Universalsports.com), the entire World Cup seasons of alpine skiing, long and short track speedskating, snowboard, bobsled and luge plus some events in freestyle skiing, ski jumping and cross-country skiing; the figure skating Grand Prix series; and the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Beginning Dec. 1, Universal Sports will have a "Countdown to Vancouver'' show every night (5 p.m. Pacific).

And if that's not enough for Olympic and winter sports junkies, nbcolympics.com will be up and running Nov. 4. 

And I will be frequently blogging about things Winter Olympic as well.

-- Philip Hersh

Photo: Lindsey Vonn figures to be the star of NBC's enormous pre-Olympic and Olympic coverage this winter. Credit: Thomas Vonn  

Numbers game: IOC would be taxed without NBC revenues

Want to know why the International Olympic Committee is backing NBC in its dispute with the U.S. Olympic Committee over the U.S. Olympic Network?

 

It is pretty clear from the numbers in the IOC's 2008 tax filing.

 

Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal first posted information about the filing Tuesday. His story emphasized the IOC's $383.3 million profit on a record $2.4 billion revenue for the fiscal year that ended Dec. 31, 2008, noting it was 68% greater than the $228.6 million profit from the previous Summer Olympic year, 2004.

 

The revenue figure that struck me was $1.73 billion in global TV rights for the Beijing Olympics.

 

What the filing wasn't required to say is NBC paid $894 million of that -- a little more than half the total.

Scoring system, Dick and Michelle, Kim Yu-Na and other thoughts

Came home from the final evening of the World Figure Skating Championships late Saturday night and watched my tape of the NBC broadcast. Wished there had been more Dick Button and Michelle Kwan.

Noticed that there didn't seem to be a mention of figure skating on ESPN all week. Maybe I missed it. If so, sorry. But, geez, the world championships are held in the United States, an American man, Evan Lysacek, is the surprise men's gold medalist, and about 18,000 people are brought to their feet in a standing awe-vation over a Korean skater named Kim Yu-Na -- who, if you're an avid watcher of ESPN you've now probably not heard of. It was sports news; it's worth covering the worldwide leader.

And about the skating. It was lovely, it was inspiring, it made this skating fan look forward to the Olympic season. For awhile, especially during the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan and Tara Lipinski-Michelle Kwan-Sarah Hughes years, I covered a lot of figure skating. I first wrote about Naomi Nari Nam and Sasha Cohen here too. I've been more removed from the sport since the new scoring system was installed, but I've heard much about how horrible it is and how it's taking away the artistry and making the sport a robotic, jump-by-numbers snoozefest.

But that's not what I saw this week at Staples. It wouldn't matter if you used numbers, letters or perfect 6's, 10's, 100's or 1,000's, Kim was graceful and athletic, interpreted her music, felt her moves, covered the ice, jumped like Kobe and landed them like a Tiger Woods chip shot: silently and without movement. I don't see how the new scoring system has hindered Kim's development in any way.

Lysacek didn't need a quadruple jump to win a world title. He needed to land his triples, feel his spirals, play on the ice as if he were a gallant 1940s gentleman dancing to Gershwin, which he did, and the scoring system didn't stop Lysacek from playing to his strengths.

And it isn't the scoring system that is keeping the U.S. women behind Kim or Canada's Joannie Rochette or Japan's Mao Asada and Miki Ando. Can Del Mar's Rachael Flatt become a more musical, lyrical skater as she matures? Is Irvine's Caroline Zhang committed to the sport enough to rediscover the spark that made her a junior national champion? Will Arcadia skater Mirai Nagasu's foot heel? Will she be able to corral her talent and growth spurt and become the skater many think could challenge Kim and Asada? What if Cohen, who is living in Corona del Mar, decides to come back? Or Kwan (she teased NBC co-hosts Bob Costas and Button in Saturday's broadcast about whether she might make a comeback)?

What I liked was that even after Kwan saw Kim's ethereal, athletic and dominating winning performance, she was not intimidated. And maybe she shouldn't be. The top female skaters are still only doing five or six triples in their long programs. That's what Kwan was doing up until her injuries forced her from the Turin Games.

Should be a fun skating year leading to Vancouver. And a lot of the skating stories will be coming from Southern California. ESPN is opening its own studio out here next month. Maybe they'll even report on some of them!

-- Diane Pucin

Al Michaels to host NBC's coverage of Vancouver Games

"Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"

Al Michaels said those words at the 1980 Winter Olympics when the U.S. hockey team stunned the world by beating the Soviet Union -- and it became one of the most famous calls in the history of sports broadcasting.

Today NBC announced that Michaels is coming back to the Winter Games -- as host for NBC's coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He hasn't worked an Olympics since the 1988 Calgary Games, and has never been the host.

NBC plans more than 50 hours of live weekend and weekday daytime coverage from Vancouver from Feb. 12 to 28 of next year.

-- Debbie Goffa

Now it's on to Vancouver

Welcome back to the LAT Olympics blog as it shifts from the Beijing Summer Games of last August to the Vancouver Winter Games, set for Feb. 12-28 of next year. Instead of Ticket to Beijing, it now is Ticket to Vancouver.

We will be posting throughout the year on Olympic news, but particularly as it relates to the Vancouver Games.  All of the Beijing posts can be accessed through the "Beijing Games" category link in the right rail of the blog.

Many of our Summer Games bloggers will be back for the Winter Games, including LAT columnist Helene Elliott and Philip Hersh, a veteran of Olympics coverage who writes for the LAT and the Chicago Tribune.

Many of the features created for Beijing will still be accessible, including photo galleries and videos.

Though we will be updating the look of this blog as we go, you can catch Olympic news right here. That will include blogging from the World Figure Skating Championships next month by LAT staff from Staples Center.

-- Debbie Goffa

Photo: Last week the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games cauldron burned brightly at Canada Olympic Park,  marking the one-year countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Credit: Jeff McIntosh / Associated Press