Olympic notebook

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 23, 2002

Hughes sandwich just got better

GREAT NECK, N.Y. -- They've revamped the menu at Deli on the Green, a favorite hangout in Sarah Hughes' hometown.

The "Sarah Hughes" sandwich is now called the "Golden Sarah Hughes." It's maple turkey and Swiss with lettuce, tomato and Thousand Island dressing on a club roll.

Bill Siele, who runs the deli with his brothers, Larry and Jack, kept the place open late Thursday so fans could gather and watch Hughes' gold-medal performance at the Games. He said Hughes' brother, Matt, called the deli from the Salt Lake Ice Center twice to keep them updated.

Siele said Matt is a big fan of the sandwich named for his sister, but when Sarah shows up, she usually orders egg-white sandwiches.

"She's got to keep her weight down so she can do all that spinning," he said.

JUDGE ON HOLD TILL APRIL: The International Skating Union said it will meet in April to make a final decision about accusations against a French figure skating judge and the head of the French skating federation stemming from the controversial pairs event.

The ISU Council received a report from its investigators and said it will hand over all the evidence to judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne and French federation chief Didier Gailhaguet.

Le Gougne and Gailhaguet will have a chance to defend themselves at the meeting in April. No specific date has been set.

The interim suspension of Le Gougne will remain in force until the council's decision.

SKATER ABSOLVED: A short-track speed skater from Belarus was given a severe warning by the IOC for steroids found in her system, but the case was not considered drug positive and she was allowed to remain in the Olympic Village and march in the Closing Ceremony.

The IOC's executive board found Yulia Pavlovich, who abruptly checked out of the village Monday rather than submit to another test for nandrolone, had inadvertently taken the drug in a food supplement supplied by her team doctor and coach. Both officials were expelled from the Games.

An IOC official said Dr. Evgeny Lositsky and Tatsiana Pavlovich, who is both coach and mother to the speed skater, had violated rules by "maneuver and manipulation" to void a drug test.

Meanwhile, the IOC awaited word on urine samples taken from Russian cross-country skiing star Larissa Lazutina, who was disqualified from a race Thursday because of high hemoglobin levels.

Generally, testing is completed within 24-36 hours and the IOC then has another 36 hours to finish the process.

CAUGHT UP IN THE NEWS: In any large media gathering, some reporters have a different approach to news gathering. That's particularly true at an Olympics, where nationalism often rules.

The vast majority of American reporters adhere to the concept of "no cheering in the press box," which means conducting yourself professionally, not as a fan.

That is not always true among, say, Russian reporters, who leap for Russian goals with the fervor of a high school cheerleader whose boyfriend has just scored the winning touchdown. Nor is it the rule of thumb for some Canadians, who were pounding on the press tables in disgust when penalties were called against their women's team in the gold-medal game Thursday with the United States.

GREAT GRETZKY STORY: If it weren't for his grandfather's decision to flee his homeland 85 years ago, then leave the United States shortly afterward, Wayne Gretzky might be running the Olympic hockey teams of America or Belarus.

Instead, Gretzky is the chief of the Canadian men's team that is in the gold-medal game.

Gretzky's grandfather, Tony, left what is now Belarus in 1917 and traveled to Chicago with the intent of joining the U.S. Army.

But, learning the Canadian army paid better, Tony moved again to Winnipeg, where he joined the military.

Gretzky said his grandfather didn't leave Russia for political reasons, but simply because living conditions were so poor.

"He didn't have anything good to say about the place," Gretzky said. "Like a lot of people, he just left."

STRIPPING FOR GOLD: Escort services hoping for a booming business are experiencing poor sales. But one strip-club owner told the Salt Lake Tribune he "sent a stripper to a gold medalist." He wouldn't say which one, only that the guy was European.