Olympic notes

By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 21, 2002

WHEN: Through Sunday.

WHERE: Salt Lake City and surrounding area.

WEATHER: Cloudy, high of 47.

BEYOND THE VENUES

Proving again people will bet on anything

Just what we need. Something else to influence figure skating judges. Intertops.com has declared Michelle Kwan the 4-5 favorite over Russia's Irina Slutskaya to win the gold medal tonight. Slutskaya is second at 6-5 with Sasha Cohen of the United States third at 4-1 and teammate Sarah Hughes fourth at 6-1. "The advantage Michelle has over Irina is the home crowd," said Michael Marz, Intertops' chief bet manager. "The judges are human, and they might be influenced by that." Kwan leads after the short program with Slutskaya second. Intertops is one of the few places to wager. In Nevada, the only place in the United States where sports betting is legal, state gaming control board banned betting on the Olympics. Intertops is based in St. John's, Antigua.

From international to intergalactic

A woman who says she has been visited many times by aliens predicted a flyby for Salt Lake City. The aliens were scheduled to arrive between noon and 5 p.m. Wednesday. Around the city, few people were looking skyward. Though maybe it was because it was irritatingly drizzly. There were no reports of alien sightings, but the woman warned people during a lecture a few days ago the aliens might not choose to be seen by everyone. About 100 people attended to see photos and hear tales of her interactions with aliens, which began in 1994.

Logic can be so pesky

The United States Olympic Committee was so happy to have broken through the 20-medal barrier it set for its athletes, it issued a press release from its head honchos. "It's joyous to see our athletes achieve their dreams," USOC president Sandy Baldwin said. However, a closer look reveals the United States is averaging only about one medal for every 12.5-million residents. Germany, which leads the medal count with 31, has about one medal for every 2.7-million residents. The most impressive? Norway. With 18 medals -- 10 gold -- the Norwegians have earned one medal for every 233,000 residents.

MEET A COUNTRY

Great Britain

LOCATION: Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France.

POPULATION: 58.75-million.

CAPITAL: London.

COMPARATIVE AREA: Slightly smaller than Oregon.

WINTER OLYMPIC STARS: Christopher Dean (figure skating); Jayne Torvill (figure skating).

RECOGNIZED BY IOC: 1905.