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Notebook Despite whispers of demise, official says Games to go on
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- Goodwill Games Inc. president Mike Plant has rejected speculation that Brisbane 2001 would be the last edition of the Goodwill Games. The games were the brainchild of media mogul Ted Turner as a Cold War gesture of goodwill after a U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and a reciprocal Soviet-bloc boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The first Goodwill Games were held at Moscow in 1986. Asked if Brisbane -- the first Goodwill Games staged outside of the United States or Russia -- would be the last, Plant said organizers were only a couple of months off announcing the host cities for the 2003 Winter and the 2005 Summer Goodwill Games. "There's a lot of speculation. But like Ted [Turner] said, people have been saying this since 1986 and we're still here," Plant said. "These [Brisbane] games have been very successful from our standpoint." Plant said some sports formats at the invitation-only meet had to be reconsidered, particularly in sports like swimming, where the dual-meet teams system was a flop in Brisbane. "The format worked well in 1998 [in New York] and judging by the feedback from your athletes, like Michael Klim and Ian Thorpe, they liked it," he said. "But we increased the amount of events this time around and that's a lesson we've got to look at."
Once bitten, twice shyAmerican boxer Juan McPherson, who claimed he was bitten on the chest during his losing semifinal to Cuba's Estonio Gutierrez on Friday, failed to make his bronze-medal playoff Sunday against Ukraine's Yuri Zolotov. McPherson lodged a protest against the outcome of his semifinal, saying the biting incident in the second round had ruined his concentration. A jury of appeal upheld the original result, although it did outline deficiencies in the officiating of the bout. The American camp said there was clear bite mark on McPherson's chest, but the referee refused to examine the mark because he hadn't seen the alleged offense. It was the second time McPherson has not made a scheduled bout against Zolotov. McPherson reached the quarterfinals at the world championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in June after officials realized he didn't meet the minimum age criteria and he was disqualified. He was 19 days shy of his 17th birthday and 17 was the minimum age for competitors. McPherson, who was getting gloved up in Belfast when he learned of his disqualification, surrendered that quarterfinal to Zolotov, who went on to get the bronze medal. While Zolotov picked up another easy bronze, Gutierrez won the Goodwill Games gold medal bout against Russian Aidin Gasanov.
Free plugsHosting the 2001 Goodwill Games has given Brisbane unprecedented television and media exposure in North America and Asia, Queensland state's political leader said Sunday. Premier Peter Beattie said Australia would have had to have sold off chunks of real estate as big Tasmania state or New South Wales' Hunter Valley winery region to pay the equivalent in advertising rates on U.S. TV networks. Beattie said his government had contributed Australian $30 million (U.S. $15.4 million) to staging the event and the state had "got that back in bucket loads." "We're absolutely delighted -- we wanted international exposure to support our tourism industry and we got it," he said. The Queensland leader said average crowds of 29,000 at ANZ Stadium for the Goodwill Games athletics competition had outstripped the 16,000-averages for the last world athletics championships at Edmonton, Canada. "I think the people of Brisbane, Queensland and Australia really embraced the Goodwill Games -- we've got more than we expected out of it," Beattie said.
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