No haste for swimming schedule-IOC
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-06-30 11:13 The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) will not hasten to finalize the timetable for the swimming event
of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an IOC official said Tuesday in Beijing.
US broadcaster NBC has requested to move the swimming finals from the evening
to morning hours so that the competition can be shown live in US prime-time. The
IOC executive board discussed this issue last week during its meeting in
Lausanne, Switzerland.
"We are looking at the possibility, and have not made any decision," IOC
marketing commission president Gerhard Heiberg told Xinhua on the sidelines of
the Beijing Olympic Sponsor Workshop.
Heiberg said the IOC is "open" to suggestions of all stakeholders and the
timetable for the swimming competition will be finalized by the end of this
year.
"We want to ensure the audience around the world all get a feeling that they
are a part of the games," he said.
"There is a time difference between here and the US. If we could put some of
the finals in the morning, that would be good for the US audience, just like the
evening hours to please the audience in Australian and in Europe, so we have to
be a little flexible."
NBC owns the exclusive US media rights to the Olympics, having paid 3.55
billion US dollars to cover the Games from 2000-2008.
Swimming has been one of NBC's best ratings winners in the Olympic coverage.
But Australian swimmers, coaches have voiced their opposition to the
proposal.
"This is about the integrity of the sport and allowing athletes to perform to
their maximum," Swimming Australia executive director Glenn Tasker told The
Australian newspaper.
"To force this on them would be grossly unfair and would produce a
second-rate meet."
Heiberg said the IOC will not sacrifice the athletes simply for commercial
purposes.
"We don't want to do anything wrong for the athletes," he
said.
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