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Officials bow to pressure, allow WTC symbol

Thursday, February 07, 2002

By Larry Siddons, The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY -- The tattered American flag recovered from the rubble at Ground Zero will be carried at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics tomorrow night in a compromise of patriotism and protocol.

A group of U.S. athletes, New York City firefighters and Port Authority police will be allowed to take the flag into the ceremony in a "solemn, dignified entrance," International Olympic Committee officials said yesterday, reversing an earlier decision.

Barring bad weather, the delicate banner will then be raised beside the Olympic flame at Rice-Eccles Stadium while "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played.

The flag will not be part of the main parade of athletes during the opening ceremony and instead will be carried in after all teams have entered the stadium.

Still, it will be the official U.S. flag of the Winter Games, at the center of an event with an estimated 3 billion people watching worldwide.

"We had a great deal of discussion as to how to honor the flag as a symbol of the heroes of Sept. 11," said Mitt Romney, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, who criticized the IOC's original decision.

"This is a way to honor the flag and honor the Olympians as a world event. We feel very connected with the athletes of the world."

IOC officials originally said American athletes would not be allowed to carry the flag, but that it could be raised as the official U.S. flag at the opening ceremony.

The IOC said the plan proposed by the U.S. Olympic Committee violated rules barring political acts during the ceremony.

The decision brought quick criticism on talk shows nationwide. The USOC received more than 75 e-mails and dozens of telephone calls at its Colorado Springs, Colo., headquarters. And Romney issued a statement in which he "respectfully disagreed" with the IOC's decision.

That's when the IOC relented.

Before a single chant of "USA, USA" rang out through the Wasatch Mountains, international Olympic officials seemed to botch their first attempt to quash what seems inevitable -- that these will be America's Games.

"There is always a question, what is the best way?" said Bob Ctvrtlik, a former Olympic volleyball player from the United States and now an IOC member. "I think the U.S. athletes will be very satisfied."

The athletes who will carry the flag will be picked after discussions with Port Authority police officers who are bringing the flag to Salt Lake City, Romney said. The flag was due to arrive last night.

The announcement of the new plan, made by IOC Director General Francois Carrard, underscored the emotion attached to the flag and the difficulties of managing a sports event that also is one of the world's largest political stages.

The compromise was reached just before midnight, after a two-hour meeting of IOC, USOC and SLOC officials and their advisers.

"The Ground Zero flag will enter solemnly during the opening ceremony," Carrard said.

"It will be carried by an honor guard of American athletes and other heroes, policemen, firemen. This will be a solemn, dignified entrance."

The flag was the only American flag flying at the World Trade Center the morning of Sept. 11.

It was buried in rubble for three days and was torn in two places. Rescuers turned it over to a National Guard colonel for a ceremonial destruction.

The colonel gave the flag to the Port Authority Police Department. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owned the trade center.

The flag flew over a World Series game at Yankee Stadium in the fall and was included in ceremonies Sunday at the Super Bowl.