Olympics let Romney raise his national profile

ATHENS — When Gov. Mitt Romney arrived here Friday morning, the man who touts his management of the Salt Lake City Games could not even get past security at the Athens Hilton. His name did not appear on the list of the Hilton's heavily guarded guests, which included members of the International Olympic Committee.

For an hour, Romney and his wife, Ann, waited.

"Finally, friends from the IOC helped us out," the governor said with a wry smile.

Two years after winning plaudits for running the 2002 Winter games, Romney is still finding ways to capitalize on his Olympics connections, especially as he takes steps to raise his profile for a possible bid for national office.

Back home, Democrats are complaining that the governor is too often out of state and uninterested in his job. Romney said that his attendance in Athens is required and that staying home would have been an insult to IOC President Jacques Rogge.

But the three-day visit clearly serves other purposes. While here, Romney will visit with George H.W. Bush on a private yacht and sit for interviews with the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and a television station. He will also become the first recipient of a new award established by supporters of the Olympics.

Besides, Romney said, "I'm entitled to a vacation, just like everyone else."

Here in Athens, Romney is one more in a sea of luminaries. Before an interview at the sumptuous Hotel Grande Bretagne, the short-sleeved governor waited patiently to pass through security as elegantly dressed Olympic dignitaries, Greek Orthodox clerics and high-ranking leaders from around the globe were allowed to pass unchecked with their sidearm-packing bodyguards.

The newly established Truce Award will be awarded to Romney today aboard the liner Queen Elizabeth 2 for his leadership at the Salt Lake Games in 2002. Romney was asked to take over and reform the local organizing committee, which had been plagued by a site-bidding scandal and incurred huge cost overruns.

The Truce Award was established by Irwin Belk, a founding member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Hugh Dugan, who was awarded an IOC medal in 1994 for his work to resuscitate the Olympic Truce, the ancient idea that hostilities should cease as people from around the world compete at the Games.