An Olympic Ideal Gets Burned

Greek grumbles inflame a coast-to-coast run for charity

It seemed a splendid idea. To the glory that was Greece, the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (L.A.O.O.C.) wanted to bring a touch of American grandeur. The Olympic flame was to be relayed from east to west in a scenic 19,000-kilometer zigzag across all 50 states, the longest torch run in modern Olympic history. Sections of the route would be “sold” at $3,000 a kilometer to sponsors who contribute to charity. Doing it the American way, the Olympic flame would arrive from Greece electronically. AT&T, which is sponsoring the Olympic relay, set up a system at the ruins in Olympia to convert the flame to an electronic impulse. This was to have been transmitted by satellite this week to a receiver in New York City’s U.N. Plaza. Unfortunately, the L.A.O.O.C. forgot a lesson as old as the Iliad: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts or, in this case, guarding traditions.

The Greeks protested the “unholy exploitation” of the Olympic flame. The International Olympic Committee actually owns the flame, but the Greeks are its guardians. “The flame for us is a sacred thing. It is not for sale,” declared Spyros Foteinos, mayor of Olympia, where the ancient Games were first held.

L.A.O.O.C. officials explained that the money from the torch relay would goto worthwhile causes, including the Boys’ Clubs of America and the Special Olympics (for the handicapped) and the Y.M.C.A. The Greeks were not convinced. According to Peter Ueberroth, president of the L.A.O.O.C., the Greeks saw the relay as “some kind of honky-tonk road show.”

Last week the L.A.O.O.C. canceled the electronic delivery of the flame, fearing Greek lack of cooperation. Instead, officials leased an Air Force jet to pick up the flame Monday and take it to New York City in six miner’s lamps.

Keeping the flame lighted after it arrives on U.S. soil may be tricky. On practice runs in March, the flame kept going out. The maker of the torch has switched to a higher-grade propane, but as a precaution, a second Olympic flame will be kept burning in a lantern along the route.

The relay sponsors are as varied as America: scores of corporations, U.S. Marines, a schoolteacher in Wichita, Kans., and dozens of celebrities from Jane Fonda to O.J. Simpson. The runners will be, if anything, even more varied. Leading off the relay from the U.N. will be the grandchildren of the great Olympians Jim Thorpe and Jesse Owens. But in Ventura, Calif., Hell’s Angel George Christie will carry the flame, decked out in a regulation Olympic running outfit embellished with touches like a silver skull earring and lurid tattoos. The L.A.O.O.C. cashed his $3,000 sponsorship check, unaware of his club allegiance. Says Christie: “Their uniform will never look so cool.”

Sadly, the Olympic relay has not been a brisk seller. Ueberroth hoped sponsors would buy 10,000 kilometers of the route, but by April, only 4,000 had been spoken for. The route was scaled down to 15,000 kilometers through only 33 states and the District of Columbia. The unsponsored miles will be run by 250 A T & T employees, who will also jog alongside sponsored runners. Runners will be accompanied by a four-vehicle security and ambulance escort, part of a fleet of 37 cars, vans and trailers offering everything from a whirlpool bath to filet mignon. The convoy, the cheering crowds and the challenge of running an Olympic kilometer is likely to make even the humblest torchbearer feel like a champion.

—By Alessandra Stanley. Reported by Lee Griggs/Chicago and Steven Holmes/Los Angeles