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High praise Romney says Games should break even, at leastPosted: Sunday February 24, 2002 1:40 PMSALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) -- The Winter Olympics have exceeded the expectations of Salt Lake City organizers who said on Sunday they expected at least to break even. "They were inspiring, memorable and will stand out in the psyche of those who watched and participated in them," Mitt Romney, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC), told a news conference. "There was not just great sport but moments that will long live in our memories ... that reconnected many of us to the Olympic spirit." The Games have suffered various problems including a furore over the figure skating judging and a Russian threat to pull out because of perceived judging injustices. But Romney said the actual organization of the Games had gone better than he could have hoped. Venues, technology, security and telecommunications performed "very, very well" and good weather had meant organisers did not have to dip into their contingency fund "in any significant way." "We will fulfil our commitment to fully endow the legacy fund with $40 million," he said. The fund will be used to maintain the mountain venues following the Games. Revenue had been higher than expected with sales of merchandise exceeding estimates by 50 to 100 percent. Ticket sales remained strong despite the after-effects of the September 11 attacks, exceeding the $180 million target. "We will break even and perhaps even break even plus," he said. Romney put the operating budget at $890 million compared with $1 billion for the Nagano Games in 1998. Taking into account the cost of building venues, increased security costs following September 11 and state and federal spending linked to the Games, the total for Salt Lake City was $1.9 billion compared with close to $3 billion for Nagano, Romney said.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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