Stolen flame

The Olympic movement suffered two embarrassing moments Monday. One is being written off as a harmless prank; the other, anything but.

The first incident occurred during the cross-Australia Olympic torch relay that will conclude in Sydney when the Summer Games begin on Sept. 15. As the relay wound through a Melbourne suburb, a young man – perhaps under the influence of excessive Olympic spirit – leapt from the crowd, snatched the flame from a torchbearer and sprinted off. Not being an Olympic-caliber sprinter, he soon was overtaken by some who were. The 19-year-old was not arrested and is in fact enjoying that peculiar brand of celebrity modern society bestows upon harmless pranksters.

The second incident occurred in this country, in a Utah courthouse. Tom Welch, president of the Salt Lake bid committee, and Dave Johnson, vice president, pleaded not guilty to charges they bribed International Olympic Committee members with more that $1 million in cash and extravagant gifts to get the 2002 Winter Games.

Pleading not guilty is their right; given that they face up to 75 years in prison for multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy and racketeering, it’s probably prudent. But the rationalization offered by Mr. Johnson at his arraignment virtually assures that the world will come to Utah 18 months from now not in global celebration but in universal outrage.

“‘You have to understand the context,” Mr. Johnson told the judge. “We were involved in a culture a lot of people don’t understand. Most people haven’t been out of this country, and there are people that live differently than we do and make decisions different than we do.”

The grammar-challenged Mr. Johnson then made a cryptic remark that a trial will make hundreds of Olympic and Utah politicians and business leaders squirm.

It gets worse. One of the defense attorneys observed that federal prosecutors will have a hard time making a bribery case if no one on either the giving or taking end is willing to testify, suggesting the IOC has a code of silence the Mob would envy. Mr. Welch joked about turning the federal courthouse into an Olympic venue.

The sad thing about Mr. Welch’s joke is that it may come true. The trial is not expected to start until late 2001; it most likely will still be under way when the games begin. Games in which the United States will host athletes from nations where, at least in Mr. Johnson’s twisted view of the world, nothing gets done without a bribe, a payoff, a little something under the table. The dual embarrassments of Monday will pale in comparison to what’s coming.

The cost to this nation’s prestige will be enormous, exceeding even the financial soaking its taxpayers are about to get. The expense of staging the Olympics is pegged at $1.3 billion; corporate sponsorship is lagging so far behind expectations that organizers are reneging on their pledge that the games would pay for themselves and are starting to whine that if Americans had any pride they’d chip in. Apparently, the $1 billion Congress already has appropriated for roads, tramways, other infrastructure and security (not part of that $1.3 billion staging total) doesn’t count.

This scandal broke nearly two years ago. During that time, Congress has been warned repeatedly by everyone from civil libertarians to fiscal conservatives that it should pull the plug, send the games elsewhere and save this country from inevitable and monumental embarrassment. Now, it’s probably too late. Unless some Australian prankster who can really run grabs that torch and carries it far beyond the reach of the likes of Mr. Welch and Mr. Johnson.