For the 1992 Winter Games, French organizers constructed a new motorway, parking lots and runs for skiing in the Alps (阿尔卑斯山). Environmentalists screamed “Disaster!” Thus warned, the Norwegians have adopted “green” advice and avoided great spots on the landscape. The speed-skating rink was built to look like an overturned ship, and so as not to disturb the birds in the national park. Dug into a mountainside, the hockey stadium is well covered and energy efficient. The bobsled run is built out of wood not metal and hidden among trees. No wonder the president of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) has called these the first “Green Games”.
Lillehammer’s opening ceremonies featured a giant Olympic Torch burning biogas produced by rotting vegetation. During construction, builders were threatened with $7,500 fines for cutting trees unnecessarily. Rare trees were carefully transplanted from hillsides. Food is being served on potato-based plates that will be fed, in turn, to pigs. Smoking has been banned outdoors as well as in, with enforcements by polite requests.
Environmentalists have declared partial victory: though Coca-Cola’s plan to decorate the town with flags has been scaled back (缩减,缩小), there are still too many boards and posters for strict green taste. Perhaps, but after the Games, athlete housing will be changed into vacation homes or shipped to the northlands for students dormitories. Embarrassed (尴尬的;难堪的) by environmental complaints, the IOC says that green awareness is now deep-rooted — along with sport and culture — as a long lasting part of the Olympic Charter (宪章) .
Indeed, Sydney was successful in becoming host for the 2000 Summer Games in part on the strength of its support from Greenpeace. Other host cities are picking up the code. Salt Lake City, bidding for the 2002 Games, may choose to use the bobsled run that Calgary built for the ’88 Games. After that, who could deny that recycling is an Olympic movement?