"It was a great Games. History will record that these Games are among the greatest, if not the greatest Games of all time," Chairman of the US Olympic Committee Board of Directors Peter Ueberroth said during a press conference in Athens on Sunday as the XVIII Olympiad comes to a close.

Ueberroth thanked Athenians and the Greeks in general for the gift they provided, on behalf of the USOC and the American people. He also thanked the volunteers who put their life on hold for a bit in order to provide their services selflessly. "Everyone thanks the volunteers, but you have to focus for a moment on these people, who have given up a month of their lives to train and perform for nothing - no tickets or anything but to make their country proud. They have done that indeed. To the Olympic officials and to the citizens of Greece, who have proven that this is a friendly country, a successful country, a country to be proud of," Ueberroth added.

Herman Frazier, Chef de Mission of the 2004 US Olympic team thanked Athens 2004 organizers "because they've done a great job of hosting these Games." Frazier also went on to thank the 201 national Olympic committees that took part in the Games. "A lot of them had some hard work to do behind the scenes to get their team prepared and we'd like to salute them," he emphasized.

Speaking of the US athletes, Frazier said: "This team of 2004 has created a new generation of American stars for their particular sports that young people can look up to in the future. From the time this team marched in the Opening Ceremony, this team was focused all the way through." Additionally, Frazier said that the team's goal was to bring home 100 medals and the fact that they surpassed this goal was the result of a "total team effort, from administration to coaches to athletes to the support personnel we have throughout the USOC."

Jim Scherr, USOC Chief Executive also referred to the US team's medals, calling it "a tremendous accomplishment." He congratulated the competitors from the other countries. He congratulated all the US athletes, whether they won medals or not, "because their conduct for these Games brought honor and dignity to themselves and the United States of America."

In closing, Scherr said: "Most importantly, I want to thank the parents, families and coaches of the athletes, who give their time and energy from the very early stages of their development through the Olympic Games.

Source: Athens News Agency

^
top

print this page   send this page