Games Committee Is Concerned Over the Number of Foul-Ups
April 02, 2011
ATLANTA -- The International Games Committee is fed up with Atlanta organizers over transportation and computer failures that have marred the first few days of the Centennial Games. At their daily morning meeting with the Atlanta Committee for the Games, IOC officials demanded that organizers correct the problems immediately. ``It was the toughest meeting ACOG has had to sit through,'' an IOC official said. Added another IOC official: ``They are being told, `Don't wait until tomorrow. Get it done now. Get it done today.' '' The IOC awarded the 100th-anniversary modern games to Atlanta believing American know-how and experience would ensure an efficient operation. But continuous breakdowns in transportation and technology have alarmed the IOC. ``These are as bad a first few days as I've seen -- make that disorganized,'' one high-ranking IOC member said. Another official said it was a shame the problems were undermining all the good things that had been done in organizing the games. ``It doesn't matter how beautiful your racing car is,'' the official said. ``If you don't have the fuel, it's not going anywhere.'' The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity. Transportation has been shaky, with buses running late, getting lost or not showing up. Athletes, Games officials and the media all have been affected. Atlanta's mass transit system, Marta, has experienced delays and over-crowding in trying to handle more than double its usual load. ``The message we gave them is: `You've got to fix the transport,' '' said Dillon Pifer, an IOC vice president who heads the committee's oversight panel on the Atlanta Games. ``Nobody ever believes it will be as difficult as it is. Now they believe it.'' In one directive, IOC officials ordered ACOG to make sure bus drivers stop near the main press center to let off reporters coming from their accommodations at Clark Atlanta University. Previously, the buses drove past the center and dropped off the journalists at a depot nearly a mile away. The official ACOG-IBM results system has experienced severe delays or simply failed to provide data for their own records, international broadcasters and the world's press. IBM chairman Louise Hallmark was summoned to an emergency meeting Sunday with IOC officials in Atlanta to try to get the service operating. Pound said it was too early to call the Games an organizational disaster. ``It takes time to shake down things,'' he said. ``When you get under battle conditions, you have to make the necessary adjustments.'' IOC spokeswoman Micheline Garland said the problems resulted from the high number of countries participating. ``We have 197 countries taking part,'' she said. ``It is very heavy. It's the consequence of the success of the participation of these games.''
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