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Singing praises IOC chief says Sydney Games could be 'best ever'
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- What he avoided saying in Atlanta, the head of the International Olympic Committee is ready to proclaim in Sydney four years later. IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch told a German newspaper that the 2000 Olympics get his stamp as "the best Games ever." "Something could still happen before Sunday. But if I had to close the Games today, I would say: 'Best Games ever,'" Samaranch told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper. The interview was conducted Thursday in Sydney and published in the newspaper's Friday edition in Germany. The Sydney Games end Sunday. Earlier this week, IOC vice president Dick Pound gave the Sydney Games a rating of "10 out of 10." "These Games are well on their way to being games straight from central casting," he said. Samaranch gave the distinction of "best ever" to the Olympics in his native Barcelona in 1992. The Atlanta Games four year later, marred by a bombing and other problems, only received the "most exceptional" description in Samaranch's Closing Ceremonies speech. "The main thing is that the athletes were very satisfied in Barcelona, but here they are even more satisfied with the organization, and so are the international sports federations," Samaranch said. Despite the many doping cases, Samaranch said, the Sydney Olympics have been "cleaner than ever." "I believe that you should congratulate us every time a doping athlete is discovered," Samaranch told the newspaper. He dismissed suggestions that weightlifting, hit by many drug cases, should be thrown out of the Olympics. "This federation, like the athletics (track) federation, fights very hard against doping," Samaranch was quoted as saying.
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