Rogge still doesn’t get it

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BEIJING -– On the one hand, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said in a Sunday morning press conference that Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps were the icons of the 2008 Olympics.

On the other, Rogge stubbornly stuck to his earlier criticism that Bolt’s exuberant celebration of his victories in the 100 and 200 meters was disrespectful to other competitors.

Both the chair of the IOC athletes commission, Olympic sprint medalist Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, and the president of the international track federation, Lamine Diack of Senegal, since have said they found nothing unacceptable about Bolt’s behavior.

Rogge’s defense of his earlier statement about Bolt sounded more than a little like colonial-era patronizing of a young black athlete from a developing country. Rogge is white and old enough, 66, to remember when his country, Belgium, was a colonial landlord in Africa.

‘The Bolt issue, I take with a big smile,’’ Rogge said. ‘I gave Usain Bolt what I think is fatherly advice, and I stand by what I said.

‘He should show more respect for his opponents. He is a young man of 22. He has time to mature.’’

Asked what moved him most in these Olympics, Rogge cited the attitude of U.S. shooter Matt Emmons in accepting a heartbreaking defeat on his final shot for the second straight Summer Games -– but while the IOC president knew the details of the story, he admitted he had forgotten Emmons’ name.

‘What moved me is the attitude of this man, that ‘this is a big failure, but I will take responsibility, and I’ll come back and win gold,’ ‘’ Rogge said. ‘I think this is the true spirit of the Olympic Games.

‘The Games is not only about winning. It is about the struggle of the athlete every day and having this resilience to say ‘I will not give up, I will come back.’’’

-- Philip Hersh