Ron Judd / Times staff columnist
USA-China Sports Summit 7 months away

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

You've already heard Bob Walsh say it, and it's true.

The Road to Beijing really does start in Seattle. At least in Olympic terms.

Seven months before the USA-China Sports Summit, Walsh and other organizers are scrambling to put the final pieces in place for a unique gathering of thousands of athletes, fans and medical, government, arts and business officials from around the Pacific Rim.

It's becoming much more than a simple meet of elite amateur athletes from the U.S. and China: The Summit is shaping up as a mini Olympics, stocked with some of the best athletes on the globe. The June 6-14 event will draw participants from nine Pacific Rim nations, many of them traditional Olympic medal-haulers: China, the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Korea, Japan and Russia.

The sports lineup remains somewhat in flux, with final approvals pending from some international organizations. But the current lineup includes a healthy lineup of Summer Olympic sports: men's and women's basketball, track and field, archery; women's softball; men's indoor volleyball, synchronized swimming, diving, track cycling and gymnastics; as well as some select Winter Games action: short-track speedskating, curling and, perhaps, a figure-skating exhibition.

The short-track competition, to be at the Everett Events Center, likely would be a major draw: It would pit the world's best skaters from Asia against an American team led by Seattle Olympic hero Apolo Anton Ohno, who would be competing for the first time on hometown ice.

Notably absent is swimming, which had too many competition schedule conflicts. But the other sports offer more than a complete menu.

Major venues will be KeyArena (basketball finals), Everett Events Center (speedskating, figure skating), the Tacoma Dome (gymnastics), the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way (synchronized swimming, diving), Marymoor Park in Redmond (cycling, softball, archery) and the West Side Athletic Complex in West Seattle for track and field.

The track venue has been the most problematic. Husky Stadium, the logical choice, is tied up for graduation the week of the Summit. The West Seattle complex is a high-school track, but one of few in the region close to international-track standards, organizers say. U.S. Track and Field officials are expected to inspect the facility soon to give it a final go-ahead.

Organizers plan to bring in temporary seating, lights and other equipment. Long-term plans to build a new international-level track outside Husky Stadium are being mulled by a variety of local officials, but no site would be ready by June.
 
A delegation from each of the participating nations will be in Seattle in January to plan this year's event and, hopefully, finalize Beijing's willingness to host it in 2006, Walsh says. The Summit then would return to Seattle in the summer of '07.

The event, which also will include business, medicine and arts symposiums, is expected to cost about $12 million, which will be raised from private sources.

Frozen box seats

Not surprisingly, the most commonly asked question we get about the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver/Whistler is a pragmatic one: When can we get tickets?

Answer: Sometime in 2009. Relax, already, and keep your Visa card on standby.

And: No, we can't get you any.

But those with large wads of cash and/or large stockpiles of frequent-flier miles can get their bobsleigh/curling fix a lot sooner, at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. Tickets for the '06 Games, which commence in a mere 15 months, went on sale this week in Italy.

Details at www.torino2006.org/tickets. Some of the big-ticket items are predictably spendy: upwards of $400 for hockey and figure skating; over $1,000 for some opening-ceremony seats. But half the events come in between $35 and $65.

First phase of ticketing ends Dec. 15.

Red states, blue Apple?

In Colorado Springs, home of the USOC, reporter Meri-Jo Borzilleri of the Gazette raises a great question: Does the reelection of President Bush, rightly or wrongfully reviled throughout much of Europe, where large blocs of IOC voters live, spell doom for New York's 2012 Summer Games bid?

The IOC is set to choose from New York, Paris, London, Moscow and Madrid this coming July. The suspicion is that many of W's Euro detractors would never want to reward the U.S. with such a grand prize on Bush's watch.

On the other hand, Bush will be long gone by 2012, and New York is increasingly being viewed as an underdog, namely to Paris.

The few USOC officials willing to discuss it are steering way, way clear of the matter:

"It's an absolute neutral," Bill Hybl, former IOC member and two-time USOC president, told the Gazette. "This is going to be decided like any other election for a bid city — how good a job bid cities do in projecting their case."

Ron Judd: 206-464-8280 or at rjudd@seattletimes.com.