Olympic notes

By Times staff reports
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 16, 2002

At a glance

WHEN: Through Feb. 24.
WHERE: Salt Lake City and surrounding area.
WEATHER: Partly cloudy, high of 39.

BEYOND THE VENUES

If only IOC rules could apply 365 days a year

Although it's the site of figure skating and short-track speed skating, the Delta Center officially doesn't exist. The 16,000-seat arena, home to the NBA's Utah Jazz, is still two blocks from the Mormon temple. But because of an Olympic policy prohibiting corporate names on venues, the arena has been temporarily renamed the "Salt Lake Ice Center." "We have people standing right below the (insert airline here) Center sign, with the map in their hand saying, "Where the heck is the Salt Lake Ice Center?"' arena general manager Cecelia Paglia said. Even though (insert airline here) is the official airline of the Games and is paying arena owner Larry Miller $25-million over 20 years to put its name on the building, Olympic officials refused to lift the ban. During Monday's pairs figure skating coverage, announcers mentioned "Salt Lake Ice Center" 20 times. According to Eric Wright of (insert name of company that estimates the value of corporate sponsorships here), if they said, "(Insert airline here) Center" instead, (insert airline here) would have received an estimated $4.3-million in exposure. Bringing up the question, how nice would it have been for those two weeks if Tampa hosted the 2012 Summer Games?

Information we'd be at a total loss without

Sweat experts (Yes, they've studied sweat enough to call themselves experts) have determined biathletes sweat more than any other athlete. During a 15-kilometer event, an average female biathlete will produce about 3.1 pounds of sweat. An average male biathlete will produce about 5 pounds of sweat during a 20-kilometer event.

Unfortunately, it can't help figure skating

The clock used at Utah Olympic Park (for luge, bobsled and skeleton) is accurate to 1/1,000th of a second. The company that manufactures the clocks says its Olympic clocks are so precise they lose only one second every 20,000 years.

MEET A COUNTRY

France

LOCATION: Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel; between Belgium and Spain southeast of the United Kingdom; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain.
POPULATION: 59.3-million.
CAPITAL: Paris.
COMPARATIVE AREA: Slightly more than twice the size of Colorado; largest West European nation.
WINTER OLYMPIC STAR: Jean-Claude Killy (skiing).
BEST CHANCE FOR GOLD: Frederic Covili (Men's giant slalom); Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat (figure skating dance).
GOLD MEDALS WON: Carole Montillet (Women's downhill), Isabelle Blanc (Women's giant slalom).
RECOGNIZED BY IOC: 1894.