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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With James Shelledy

Aired February 24, 2002 - 11:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The Winter Games are closing with a little glitz, a little glamour and a lot of drama. Just last night, the Americans broke a 46-year drought to take the silver and bronze in the men's four-man bobsled. The U.S. men's speed skating team couldn't quite pull it off last night. They came in last place in the 5,000 meter relay, and that's mostly because skater Rusty Smith fell with 26 laps to go in that race.

But you know, that kind of happens sometimes when you're speed skating, especially the relays. But earlier in the evening, Rusty Smith in an individual race, picked up a bronze in the 500 meters.

Here's a look at the medal count so far. Germany has the most gold, 12, and the most medals overall. The U.S. has 33 medals in all, including 10 gold and Norway, Canada and Austria round out the top five.

So how did these games play in Salt Lake and what did they do for the city's image? James Shelledy is editor of the "Salt Lake Tribune," and he joins us now from Salt Lake to talk a little bit more about that. Thanks for joining us.

JAMES SHELLEDY, EDITOR, "SALT LAKE TRIBUNE": Well, thank you. With the exception of that melee early this morning, things couldn't have gone better for Salt Lake City. I mean, we had picture perfect venues and weather. You had traffic flow that was good. You had security that was tight. We report this morning that the games are actually going to turn a profit. I suppose most important of all, Utah doesn't come off as a bunch of prudish weirdos.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's good news. And you know, how about the legacy though in long term? There may be a worldwide legacy and there will be the domestic one. Worldwide, you know, there may be a different opinion about how things went. How do you see it?

SHELLEDY: I believe that Utah will get a good bounce from this internationally, especially in the ski industry and the related tourism parts. Other than that, it's going to be really dependent on how Utah wants to react to the fun it had during these 17 days.

Now I suppose last night's little scuffle in the downtown streets is not going to help that at all. They'll say "see what happens when people either get too much or too little beer in them these things can happen." But it was also, I think, a matter of police having too much training and too much time on their hands during these games. Mix that with the last night of festivities, and you're going to have a little bit of a problem, but it really wasn't that big a deal.

WHITFIELD: Well instead might some of the highlights and the low-lights be, of course, the pairs skating debacle. You know, that kind of got the games going in terms of the talk about judge reform.

And then, of course, you had all kinds of world records being set on the ice, and then of course -

SHELLEDY: Yes, the -

WHITFIELD: -- you've got an unprecedented security, you know, measure and plan in place for these games.

SHELLEDY: Yes, the IOC had its usual good performances and its usual controversies and scandal over judging and drug testing and the nationalism that goes with that. So, it was pretty much games as usual for the IOC. I believe it has a little rougher sledding than say Salt Lake City had.

WHITFIELD: Initially, so many environmentalists, before the games began there were a lot of rumblings of many who kind of bemoaned the fact that there would be all this development, particularly in the Park City area.

Now that the games are almost over, most people are very happy with the outcome of the games, the athletes particularly, once all the crowds leave, once the tourists leave, what about those residents, those you know, folks in Utah who were initially complaining about the development? Might people be pretty satisfied with the way it all worked out?

SHELLEDY: Well, I don't know so much it's a complaint about the development. I think it's a concern and we do have that problem in Utah. It's sort of unchecked development. I think that will remain after the games. That's an issue that Utah will have to face with or without the games.

WHITFIELD: And what might be some of the most memorable moments for you? How are you going to remember these games?

SHELLEDY: Well it really transformed downtown Salt Lake City. For me, it was just great to see people having fun on the streets. The streets were crowded. Everybody was having a good time, and it showed that we can really have this kind of good times in Utah without really hurting us at all.

WHITFIELD: Great. Thanks so much, James Shelledy, for joining us from Salt Lake, and tonight closing ceremonies, 8:00 Eastern time. You get lucky enough to get a ticket to that?

SHELLEDY: No, I'll be working. WHITFIELD: All right, well thanks very much. I'm sure you guys have done a great job out there. I think there have been very few complaints over the coverage of the Winter Games, so thanks very much, James, for joining us.

SHELLEDY: Thank you.

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