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Losing candidates' reactions mixed
MOSCOW (AP) -- As Belgian surgeon Jacques Rogge captured sport's most powerful crown as head of the International Olympic Committee on Monday, his defeated rivals reacted with a mixture of defiance, hurt pride, smiles and tears. Kim Un-yong, the South Korean powerbroker long considered Rogge's main challenger, pointedly boycotted the announcement ceremony at Moscow's ornate Hall of Columns and the farewell ceremony for outgoing President Juan Antonio Samaranch in fury at what he considered a last-minute smear campaign against him. "It wasn't a race with fair play," said Kim, who spent most of the day avoiding journalists and IOC members in his hotel room. Canada's Dick Pound submitted his resignation as both the IOC's marketing chief and the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He said he was considering Rogge's request to reconsider. Anita DeFrantz, the American who captured least votes of anyone, was in tears as she addressed journalists, but then recovered to pledge her support to Rogge. The remaining candidate, Hungary's Pal Schmitt, described the winner as a "very good friend who will make an excellent president." Rogge achieved an overwhelming victory in the second round with 59 votes, ahead of 23 for Kim, 22 for Pound and 6 for Schmitt. DeFrantz was eliminated in the first round. Of the losers, Kim reacted with the most bitterness. The South Korean was incensed at being hauled before the IOC's ethics commission on Sunday to explain newspaper reports that he proposed giving members a minimum $50,000 per year in work expenses. He denied ever having set a figure and said that his proposals to give IOC members extra administrative support were well known and conformed with IOC rules. The ethics commission accepted Kim's word -- but the South Korean maintained that its actions were deliberately timed to undermine him on the eve of the presidential vote. Kim had bounced back to being a presidential front-runner after being nearly expelled from the IOC during its internal inquiry into the Salt Lake City bribery scandal. He was given a severe warning after his son was accused of accepting a sham job funded by bid committee officials. "It was a once in a lifetime chance," said Rocky Yoon, deputy secretary general of the Korean Olympic Committee, who helped Kim in his campaign. "He's 70 years old so do you think he's going to run again? It's possible but I don't think so." Yoon said Kim was "upset but he expected it." "Dr. Kim could have been a great sports leader of the world. but the wind was not favorable for him," said Yoon. For Pound, it was a double blow. He finished third behind Kim on 22 votes -- the same number won by the Canadian city of Toronto who finished behind Beijing in last Friday's decision on the 2008 Olympics host city. "I'd rather be talking to you as president rather than someone who's not president," he said when asked how he felt after the vote. He said he was surprised at the speed and margin of Rogge's victory. "But when people decide where they want to go, quite often they don't stop at the intermediate watering holes," he said. The 59-year-old Canadian has been one of the IOC's most powerful figures, in charge of multimillion-dollar television and sponsorship deals. He also chairs the World Anti-Doping Agency. But his stint as head of the IOC internal probe into the Salt Lake scandal, which led to the expulsion or resignation of 10 members, that earned him enemies within the movement. And he lacked Rogge's strong European power base. DeFrantz, a 48-year-old lawyer and former Olympic rower, said that strict rules on campaigning had hindered her efforts to get her message across to other IOC members. "I had the same credentials or better than any of the candidates. The IOC made a decision and as we say in the oath, once it's made, it's made," she said. And she said her early exit from the race was a result of tactical voting against Kim. "People who were supporters expressed there was a danger of someone getting in they really didn't want," she said.
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