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Show Utah sets record with fourth bid defeat A? prnur ' ? - - k ' J xA Vic 'iiVlV'-- Unidentified Olympic supporter calmly awaits Olympic announcement, then voices disappointment at the loss. SALT LAKE CITY On Sat urday morning at Washingtor Square in Salt Lake City, thousand: of Olympic supporters once agair suffered the emotional setback ol being told no. For the fourth tim Salt Lake City was denied th Olympics. When International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio i Samaranch announced from Birm-i Birm-i ingham, England, that the IOC's i choice was Nagano, Japan, the f jubilant and optimistic crowd was ; stunned and devastated. Reactions ; varied from tears to mumbled curses. But, in the spirit of sport-; sport-; smanship that is the mark of the The crowd that filled Washington Square in Salt Lake City was stunned by the IOC's decision to hold the 1 998 Winter Olympics in Japan. (Clipper photos by Jack Foriska) games, Utah bid counsel Jim Jar-dine Jar-dine admonished the crowd to accept ac-cept the decision in the same spirit that has characterized Utah throughout the 1991 bid process, with courage. He also offered Nagano his congratulations. Bountiful resident and Olympic steeplechase runner Henry Marsh and Lieutenant Govenor Val Oveson were undaunted, and lead the disheartened crowd in a chant of 2002, 2002. In an earlier interview Marsh had told the Clipper "We have a commitment to the United States Olympic Committee to finish our facilities by 1992 there's no turning back now.' Marsh who carried the Olympic torch to begin the festivities on Saturday Sat-urday and is the Vice President of the Bid Committee, said he just viewed this as another setback, not a defeat. "We'll just go back to the drawing board," he said. Not everybody connected with the bid took the news so well. Sena- tor Jake Gam reportedly was so upset that he threatened to make things difficult with Japan in the Senate in regards to US-Japanese trade negotiations. Bid Committee Chairman Tom Welch on the other hand was said to be taking the loss very well. Welch said he is going fishing now regardless. How many times will Utah be denied is the question? No other city has bid and been denied four times. We now hold the record in that respect. Despite the disappointment disap-pointment that was so evident in the faces in the crowd, the party went on as promised. The Walter and Hayes band played, and fireworks went off at 2:00. |