Olympic Roundup: Baldwin Says She Will Take IOC Seat; Greek Official Fears Olympic Venues May Not Be Completed

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Nov. 1. SANDRA Baldwin, the president of the US Olympic Committee, said Tuesday she will be appointed to a seat on the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Baldwin, a former president of United States Swimming, said she expects to assume the chair previouysly held by Bill Hybl, her predecessor at the USOC, according to a story in Tuesday's Arizona Republic.

Greek Minister Voices Fears over Completion of Olympic Venues

LONDON, Nov. 1. FOR the first time, a Greek government minister has warned that some of the building projects may not be ready in time for the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens, according to a story by John Goodbody and John Carr in The London Times.

The statement by Vasso Papandreou, the new Public Works Minister, will alarm the International Olympic Committee (IOC), already worried that the world's
biggest sports festival is slipping behind schedule.

Although there is no danger of the quadrennial event being cancelled or moved to another city, the IOC co-ordination commission will need reassurances when it visits Greece at the end of this month for one of its
regular inspection visits.

During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Papandreou told the rest of the Government: "It is going to be difficult for some of the ministry's projects to be completed on time." According to Katherini, the reputable broadsheet Athens daily newspaper, she cited red tape problems with contractors in the building of Olympic venues, several of which are still holes in the
ground, as well as the opposition of environmentalist groups.

Craig Reedie, the chairman of the British Olympic Association and a member of the 15-strong IOC co-ordination commission, said yesterday: "I think this
will help concentrate the minds of the responsible departments because the delivery of sports facilities and infrastructure is crucial to the success of the Games. However, I am absolutely certain that the Olympics will be held in Athens. The challenge is to deliver them in time."

Last year, Juan Antonio Samaranch, then the IOC president, warned Greece that it had to accelerate its building programme for the Games, which were awarded to Athens in 1997. There were even media suggestions that the Games might have to be moved to Seoul, which staged the 1988 Olympics, or Sydney, venue of the triumphant 2000 Games.

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