"Innsbruck is Ready" Says Austrian Olympic Leader

(ATR) The secretary general of the Austrian Olympic Committee tells Around the Rings "we are in a very good situation" ahead of Friday's opening ceremony of the first-ever Winter Youth Olympic Games.

In a wide-ranging interview, Peter Mennel also touches upon AOC reforms, Austrian bid aspirations and the "very big job" done by his "very small" NOC.

Around the Rings: What role is the Austrian Olympic Committee playing in the organization of the first-ever Winter Youth Olympic Games?

Peter Mennel: We did the bid for hosting the Games, and now we are working very hard on the supervisory board with [AOC president Karl] Stoss and myself looking after the budget and looking for the sponsors and putting a lot of input into the Games to support the CEO of the organizing committee.

ATR: How ready is Innsbruck for the Games kicking off Friday?

PM: Innsbruck is ready.

As you know, there are always a lot of things coming up which are not perhaps planned in this way, but we don’t have to do any extra things. We are in a very good situation.

The biggest difference from the Games in 1964 and 1976 is that we have a lot of snow. We didn’t have snow in 1964. We had to carry snow by trucks to the slopes, but this year we have a bunch of snow. That’s good, and that makes everybody comfortable.

ATR: What sort of weather are you expecting during the Games themselves?

PM: The forecast is very good and will stay with the high pressure the next five or six days.

ATR: How big a home team is Austria fielding for the Winter YOG?

PM: Throughout history, Austria has been the biggest team taking part in the Winter Olympics. We have 81 athletes, and Russia is the second biggest team with about 60. This time, it’s historical that Austria has the biggest team competing at the first-ever Winter Youth Olympic Games.

ATR: What sort of medal expectations does the AOC have for Innsbruck 2012?

PM: We don’t have any medal expectations because our goal is to give the young athletes education and experience on their way to compete and through their career in sport, so it’s not the main goal to have as many medals as they can win.

We did a lot to support them, and if the athletes can say "Yeah, we got the best preparation, we got the best organization" and after the competition can say "We did our best," then the medals will come or not, but that’s not the main goal.

We are satisfied when the athletes say after the competition there was nothing else to do with the AOC that could have been done better.

ATR: What role are the Youth Olympic Games playing in the AOC’s ongoing reforms process?

PM: It’s very important for us because we come from the youth, and we are the first National Olympic Committee to hold a kickoff meeting for the Games. We had this weekend all athletes and all coaches together for two days and did with them media training, nutrition and cooking, outdoor team-building and a "Chat with Champions."

We also had an Olympic quiz where the athletes had teams and had to answer Olympic questions. It was very interesting because those questions they didn’t know, they will never forget the answers again.

ATR: And how does the organization of the Winter YOG play into the reforms of the AOC?

PM: We have reforms beginning one-and-a-half years ago because since then I am secretary general. Before that, I was CEO of a bank in Austria. I also personally was in sports business – I spent 10 years on the national team in parachuting, and I was world champion in helicopter flying, so I know sport pretty well.

I was also treasurer of the Austrian Ski Federation, and one-and-a-half years ago I moved to the Olympic Committee, and we did a lot. We now have new statutes and a lot of formal things so everybody knows how to work and what needs to be done when you want to do something.

We are a very small Olympic Committee. We just have eight employees, so we are really very small but do a very big job.

ATR: Are the Youth Olympic Games in any way a stepping stone toward a bid for a third Winter Olympics in Innsbruck?

PM: Olympic Games are always a step toward something, and I think the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck are very important not only for Innsbruck and for Tyrol, but also for the Austrian Olympic Committee.

ATR: But does the AOC have any bid aspirations for future Olympic Games?

PM: Not at the moment.

Austria is a small country, and as you know, it takes a lot of money to make a bid for traditional Olympic Games, and there is nobody at the moment that I know of who is thinking about a new bid.

ATR: Anything else I’m forgetting to ask?

PM: It’s very important that the president and the supervisory board and myself as secretary general are working very hard to improve Olympic sport in Austria. We do a lot of new things which were never done, and I think that way also the athletes and the coaches admit, and they say that’s impressive and we’re happy, so we are very optimistic for Innsbruck 2012.

Interview conducted by Matthew Grayson.

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