Competition Not a Place for Mourning, Says IOC

The IOC warns athletes that no tributes, however well-meaning, are allowed on the field of play.

Four Norwegian cross country skiers, including gold medalist Marit Bjoergen, wore black armbands Sunday after learning that the brother of a teammate died Friday.

Meanwhile, halfpipe skiers are banned from wearing stickers to honor Canadian Sarah Burke, who died two years ago after a crash in training. Some skiers have pasted the stickers on their helmets and snowboards throughout the season.

The IOC sent a letter to the Norwegian NOC about the armband issue, and spokesman Mark Adams said, "I believe that’s the end of the matter."

Gerhard Heiberg, IOC member from Norway, said he understands the reaction of the IOC.

"We are 204 nations," he said. "There is a precedent if you let people come out like that. We had to say this is not according to our rules.

"As a Norwegian, I have full understanding of what happened. These four girls in the race, they were really concerned. They wanted to show their sympathy. As a person, I have full understanding for it. But as an IOC member, I can see the consequences are not good. So I feel it’s OK they’re being told by the IOC that we really do not like this and don’t do it again."

In regards to Burke, Adams said the IOC has "huge sympathy" and she needs to be well-remembered, but that Olympic competitions are a place of celebration, not for mourning.

He said the IOC would help athletes remember Burke in other ways, such as organizing a press conference or gathering in the multi-faith center.

"For us, it’s a question of what’s appropriate and where would be the best place for a remembrance," Adams said.

IOC Member Says More Spectators Needed

Attendance at the Games remains a concern. Empty seats have been conspicuous in television broadcasts.

"We feared that little bit," said Heiberg, the IOC marketing chief and the CEO of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.

"They have to see to it that they fill the stadiums. I understand they say all tickets have been sold. They should do something about this. [Give them to] school children or students or military people without uniforms."

Sochi organizers disputed the perception that attendance is a problem.

Spokeswoman Alexandra Kosterina said 59,395 tickets were sold for Sunday events, though actual attendance was "slightly lower."

"We’ve seen in most of the stadiums more than 90 percent sold out," she said, noting that the last night of team figure skating on Sunday was a complete sellout. Men’s luge was also sold out.

Women’s hockey, Kosterina said, "was a big surprise for us. We expected a lot of people for Russia and Germany, but a lot of Russian fans showed up for Sweden and Japan. We hear nothing but praise from the International Hockey Federation."

However, she acknowledged that volunteers have been asked to change into regular clothes and fill some seats at venues.

"We do have the personal motivation program," Kosterina said. "Those volunteers who are not in shifts might take part in it. It depends on the event. If we see that there is a not a turnout and seats are available, then yes, we invited some of the volunteers to join in."

She says more than 70,000 people attended the medal ceremony in the park and with the Russian figure skating team receiving a gold medal on Monday night, Kosterina said she expected even more of a crowd. One observer at the event tells Around the Rings attendance was far less than 70,000.

Sochi chief Dmitry Chernyshenko denied that attendance was a problem.

"All the venues are full, absolutely full," he said. "Watch TV and you will see. We have a special, purpose-built strategy to allocate some amount of affordable tickets for those who are coming to venues, and that was my strategy: to allocate on the offline cash desk all around the venues. You come to the venues. You admire them. You want to come again. You should have the opportunity to buy the tickets. For the current day, this is sold out for the tickets. We are selling tickets for the forthcoming days. This is very difficult in terms of operations and selling, but it’s very good in terms of keeping spectators as excited as possible and I guess it worked."

Kosterina said extra cashiers have been brought in to ease some of the long lines to get spectator passes.

"We apologize for the inconvenience," she said.

New Events, New Stars

The issues were addressed late in a press conference that was a departure from the usual "stats and facts" briefing by the IOC and the organizing committee.

Snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg of the U.S., who won the first gold medal of the Games in slopestyle Saturday, was a special guest. Kotsenburg, who used the word "stoked" repeatedly, represents the athletes from extreme sports making their debut in Sochi. The new sports are supposed to appeal to the younger generation.

"I think the world needed to see slopestyle," Kotsenburg, 20, said. "Snowboarding is a lot different sport than figure skating or gymnastics. We’re all really different and individual people and this is what the kids are doing nowadays. We come from a crazy background, but we’re all super stoked to be in the Olympics."

Christophe Dubi, the IOC sports director, said men’s and women’s slopestyle was a great start for a new event. "We really had goosebumps," he said.

Dubi said refreshing the program allows the IOC to preserve its history while at the same time remaining relevant and capturing new audiences.

Another new discipline making its debut was the team figure skating event. There are new team events yet to come in luge and biathlon, as well as individual events in women’s ski jumping, ski halfpipe, snowboard parallel slalom, and slopestyle skiing for men and women.

"It’s a great source of satisfaction from the IOC viewpoint," Dubi said. "Youth sports have served as a platform."

He said there are 40 participants who competed in the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck two years ago.

Women’s Nordic combined events could follow ski jumping into the Games, Dubi said. He said gender balance is a priority for the IOC.

Dubi sees the "same kind of movement for Nordic combined" as for women’s ski jumping in developing talent and growing the numbers of participants.

"The depth of the top level will increase at some time," he said, "and be on board to take them on for the next edition."

Written by Karen Rosen

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