Games provide a tale of 2 cities

The situation is not exactly out of Dickens, but the contrasting natures of Salt Lake City and Moscow, put in sharp relief by the Moscow-Utah Youth Games, provide plenty of fodder for a modern "Tale of Two Cities."

Apart from the mutual and frequently expressed desire to promote cooperation and friendship through sport, Utah and Moscow have very different motives behind putting on the games: One place is coming down from the Olympic mountaintop, the other on its way up.

Utah, on the far side of a successful 2002 Olympic Winter Games, is doing all it can -- with varying degrees of success -- to keep the Olympic spirit alive. Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson worked hard to keep downtown buzzing with activity after the Olympic athletes left town. The Utah Sports Commission and Utah Athletic Foundation continually work to keep the Olympic venues busy. The annual Winterfest, the second version of which is going on right now, was created.

"It's something that will provide more attention to Utah's winter season," said Winterfest director Kip Pitou.

The Moscow-Utah Youth Games, now under way, are another piece of that effort -- a mini-Olympics two years after the real thing.

"Starting now, may we catch the spirit of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, which still lingers in this stadium," Gov. Olene Walker said at Friday's youth games opening ceremonies in Olympic Cauldron Park.

In contrast to Utah, Moscow is shooting to host an Olympics of its own, in 2012. The city's organization of the summer version of the Moscow-Utah Youth Games was, in large part, informed by a desire to impress the International Olympic Committee of Moscow's desire and ability to host the Olympics.

About 250 Utah high school athletes and coaches traveled to Moscow in July for the summer games. Moscow is now returning the favor by sending athletes and coaches here for the winter portion. Utah athletes and coaches left Moscow amazed by the effort expended and the money spent by the Russians.

"That's going to be hard to duplicate," said Evan Excell, director of the Utah High School Athletic Association, after the summer games' opening ceremonies.

Six months later, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov says the effort was successful.

"The games were highly appreciated by the International Olympic Committee," he told members of the Utah Senate on Friday.

Moscow and Utah also have differed in the weight the athletes and coaches ascribe to performance. In Russia, Olympic-type competitions are more high-profile than they are here, with volleyball and swimming and water polo, for example, all very popular sports. Muscovite coaches were pressured to win, reportedly even to the point of having their jobs on the line.

Some elite Utah athletes, on the other hand, chose to forego the summer games altogether because of conflicting competitions.

If nothing else, Luzhkov said Utah is educating Moscow in its efforts to win the Olympics.

"We were fascinated by the high level of organization of the Games," he said.

The first competitions of the Moscow-Utah Youth Games (tennis) are scheduled today. Other competitions, which run through Saturday, include alpine skiing, cross country skiing, curling, freestyle skiing, hockey, ski jumping, speedskating and volleyball, along with figure-skating exhibitions. Go to www.utahsportscommission.com for details.

E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com; Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

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