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Show In Our Opinion Olympics bid gets big assist With both Mother Nature and President Bush pulling for Utah's bid to win the 1998 Winter Olympics, you've got to feel just a little optimistic. Mother Nature dumped 2 feet of snow on the Wasatch Mountains just in time for the arrival in northern Utah of Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee. Samaranch arrived Saturday and spent the weekend week-end taking a firsthand look at Utah as a possible host Olympics site. Mother Nature, apparently mindful of the pressing need to show Samaranch that Utah truly is the home of the Greatest Snow on Earth, followed her original offering .of 2 feet by dumping a total of 69 inches of the white stuff during a four-day four-day period, most of it during the Samaranch visit, the U.S. Weather Service reported Monday. President Bush, too, lent support by telephoning Samaranch on Sunday morning while the Olympic leader was attending mass at the Holy Cross Hospital chapel. Bush patiently waited on hold for a few minutes while the mass ended, and then Samaranch was rushed to a portable telephone where he and the president of the United States conversed. Ever the diplomat, Samaranch wouldn't divulge what the president had to say, but we can guess based on the knowledge knowl-edge that the telephone call was arranged by the Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee. Another clue might be found in Samaranch's only comment on the conversation with Bush. "He's very supportive of Salt Lake City, isn't he," Samaranch said. I A former economics professor and Spanish ambassador to I the USSR and the People's Republic of Mongolia, Samaranch I is not a voting member of the IOC, which he heads. But because his opinion carries great weight with the 92 members who do vote, his opinion is critical .to any city seeking to be selected for the Winter Olympics. The committee is scheduled to vote June 15 while convened in Birmingham, England. As evidence of Samaranch's influence, the next Summer Olympics will be held in his hometown, Barcelona, Spain. In fact all of the six candidates for the 1 996 Winter Olympics Olym-pics are hosting Samaranch. The other hopefuls include Nagano, Japan; Ostersund, Sweden; Souchi, USSR; Aosta, Italy Ita-ly and Jaca, Spain. With assists from Mother Nature and the President, Utah made a good showing with Samaranch. We should now follow the advice he gave as he left Utah-bring as many of the IOC's 92 members to Utah as possible. We've already hosted 48 members, but as Samaranch says, the more who see the Greatest Snow on Earth, the better the chances of winning their vote. Utah deserves an international showcase like the 1998 Winter Olympics. We hope it happens. |