 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|
 |
Second chance U.S. hockey team will stay in athletes' village next year
Updated: Friday June 08, 2001 8:21 AM
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- The U.S. Olympic hockey team, which was believed responsible for damage to its Olympic Village rooms in the 1998 Winter Games, will get a second chance during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. USA Hockey officials said Wednesday the team will share renovated college dormitories with athletes from around the world next year. Spokesman Chuck Menke said having the players stay with about 2,500 athletes and 1,000 coaches at the University of Utah is an important part of the Olympic experience. "That's been the plan all along, to keep them at the village," he said. In the Olympic Village suite where the U.S. players stayed in Nagano, chairs were broken and fire extinguishers were discharged. One extinguisher was thrown from the fifth floor into a courtyard. The damage was done to three rooms hours after the favored U.S. team was knocked out of competition by the Czech team. No U.S. player ever admitted trashing the rooms but Menke said officials believe only two or three players were involved. Team captain Chris Chelios apologized for the incident and presented a check for $3,000 to Japanese officials to pay for the damage. Of the 10 players announced so far for next year's team, nine were on the Nagano team. Salt Lake City's Olympic Village will also be set up in suites and include hot tubs and a fitness center.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
