| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
|
| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
Medal security so tight 007 couldn't crack it
By Derek Jensen
Deseret News staff writer
Mitt Romney climbed into an armored truck Friday night under the watch of a shotgun-toting guard.
The Salt Lake Organizing Committee President had just signed for the two gold medals that will soon be presented to the Canadian pairs figure skating team.
"They're worth a lot more than the gold content to a lot of people," Romney said before picking up the medals from O.C. Tanner headquarters.
The monetary and sentimental worth of the medals makes protecting these renowned Olympic symbols a serious matter for SLOC.
"A medal from the Olympic Games is the highest form of recognition an athlete can achieve in the sporting world so we're very careful about protecting these assets," SLOC spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said.
Yeah, slightly. Try asking about how they keep the medals from being stolen and SLOC officials answer as if they're protecting a national security secret.
"As with anything regarding security, we don't comment," Volmer said in response to questions about medal security.
Follow-up questions elicit only slightly more detail.
"The medals are kept safe and secure at an undisclosed location until they're ready to be presented to the athletes," Volmer said.
Volmer, however, doesn't know where that "undisclosed location" is or how many SLOC employees know about it.
All medals are transported by armored car, as they were Friday night. And in case they're lost or stolen SLOC has a general insurance policy, which includes the 861 Olympic medals, as protection against theft. Volmer would not say how much the policy is worth.
Even the company that designed and manufactured the 1.25 pound medals won't divulge the value of each Olympic memento.
"The only thing I'm allowed to disclose is that we are an Olympic supplier. Our donation falls in the range of $5 million to $10 million," O.C. Tanner spokesman Adrian Gostick said.
That donation includes 40,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals and between 500 and 600 Olympic rings for American Olympians, Gostick said.
The size of that donation is equaled by the security to protect those assets. Before turning the 861 Olympic medals over to SLOC Feb. 5, O.C. Tanner stored the prizes in a secure vault protected by facial recognition technology similar to that used at last year's Super Bowl, infrared scanners and several security cameras.
For security reasons company officials still won't reveal its it's size or location. Some of the 576 Paralympic medals already manufactured by O.C. Tanner are also being stored in the same secret vault.
When the remaining medals are completed they'll all remain in the vault until they're handed over to SLOC.
"It is one of the most secure areas probably in Utah," Gostick said.
Only vault personnel and a select group of employees who organized the Olympic medals project were actually allowed in the vault.
"I would say the number is 20 or less," Gostick said.
When O.C. Tanner handed the medals over to SLOC, they were packaged in separate boxes for each Olympic event. The boxes were sealed with screws, then wrapped with metal and plastic bands.
They were transported from the O.C. Tanner vault to an unspecified location by three armed guards in an armored truck, Gostick said.
"O.C. Tanner doesn't even know where they are," Gostick said.
E-mail: djensen@desnews.com
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February 16, 2002
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