download - IOA

of us, but on all Olympians. There was more to the Olympic movement than was
meeting the eye - the Olympic dream and the opportunities spurred by the
Olympic movement was changing lives. The story of a Ugandan track athlete from
a family of fourteen children who had two siblings die of malnutrition and only ate
one meal per day, who was awarded a scholarship to train in Australia, is one that
I recall fondly. With a running style that his coach likened to a windmill when he
arrived, he worked hard revelling in the opportunity that was being afforded
to him. He left Australia a much-improved runner and won a scholarship to a
university in the United States where he is now receiving an education and raising
two sons.
In May I began a six-month secondment to SOCOG - the organising committee
for the Sydney Olympic Games. I worked in the NOC Services department and
was working with the 11 African NOCs with whom I was working in the African
Olympic Training Centre. It involved working closely with each NOC and assisting
them to co-ordinate their Olympic campaign. We were the communication link
between the functional areas of SOCOG and the NOCs. We were there for the
NOCs and it was our job to assist each Olympic Committee with whatever it was
they needed throughout their campaign. We had to make sure that they handed
in heir accreditation forms on time, entered all their athletes, paid for their
accommodation, booked their airfares, etc.
I was very excited to have this opportunity; I was going to experience the
Olympic Games first hand. But, as we say in Australia, it wasn't all beer and
skittles. It was tough. It involved long days, long weekends and long nights that
stretched into early mornings. Never before had I appreciated how hard an
organising committee works to present the Games, and I don't think many people
appreciate just how difficult a job it is to deliver a successful Games. As painful as
it often was, and despite the very real strain it put on my personal life, I wouldn't
take back one second of the time I spent with SOCOG because I learnt so
may lessons about myself and about sports administration. But there are lessons
that can be handed down to future organising committees; there are mistakes
that shouldn't be made again. There are things I wish I had been told by past
organisations that could have helped me, as I am sure I made the same mistakes
that others before me had made. There are things the IOC can do to make the
job of the organising committee easier. Organising the Games is like preparing
for an event as an athlete - you learn from your mistakes. There are new training
techniques - the new techniques replace the old. There are things your coach can
help you with and there are things that you can only do yourself.
The problems we faced were immense and the stories I could tell you of the
NOCs I worked with could bring tears to your eyes. I could tell you the story of
the NOC who registered their athletes four weeks before the Games started - three
months after the deadline. Or the story of the athlete killed in a road accident in
Sydney two weeks prior to the Games. Or would you like the story of the thirty
unaccredited government delegates of an NOC arriving at the airport at 11 p.m.
one night demanding accreditation and accommodation to which they were not
163