> NEW YORK -- American athletes have been warned not to wave the U.S.
> flag during their medal celebrations at this summer's Olympic Games in
> Athens, for fear of provoking crowd hostility and harming the
> country's already-battered public image.
>     The spectacle of victorious athletes grabbing a national flag and
> parading it around the stadium is a familiar part of international
> sporting competition, but U.S. Olympic officials have ordered their
> 550-strong team to exercise restraint and avoid any jingoistic
> behavior.
>     The plan is part of a charm offensive aimed at repairing the
> country's international reputation after the deepening crisis in Iraq
> and damaging revelations of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by
> U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.
>     "American athletes find themselves in extraordinary circumstances
> in Athens in relation to the world as we know it right now," said Mike
> Moran, a veteran former spokesman for the United States Olympic
> Committee who has been retained as a consultant to advise athletes how
> to behave.
>     "Regardless of whether there is anti-American sentiment in Athens
> or not, the world watches Americans a lot now in terms of how they
> behave and our culture. What I am trying to do with the athletes and
> coaches is to suggest to them that they consider how the normal things
> they do at an event, including the Olympics, might be viewed as
> confrontational or insulting or cause embarrassment."
>     Four years ago at the Sydney Olympics, members of the victorious
> American 400-meter relay team were widely condemned for strutting with
> the U.S. flag after their gold medal presentation. American officials,
> mindful of the country's precarious standing in world opinion, are
> desperate to avoid any repeat.
>     "Unfortunately, using the flag as a prop or a piece of apparel or
> indulging in boasting behavior is becoming part of our society in
> sport because every night on TV we see our athletes -- professional,
> college or otherwise -- taunting their opponents and going
> face-to-face with each other," Mr. Moran said. "We are trying for 17
> days to break that culture.
>     "What I am telling the athletes is, 'Don't run over and grab a
> flag and take it round the track with you.' It's not business as usual
> for American athletes. If a Kenyan or a Russian grabs their national
> flag and runs round the track or holds it high over their heads, it
> might not be viewed as confrontational. Where we are in the world
> right now, an American athlete doing that might be viewed in another
> manner."
>     Mr. Moran added that the behavior of British athletes could face
> similar scrutiny in Athens, though the British Olympic Association
> insists there are no plans to ban them from celebrating with the Union
> flag.
>     "It's up to every athlete how he or she wishes to celebrate their
> Olympic success, and there are no plans to issue any instructions," a
> spokesman for the association said. "We are confident that every
> athlete will celebrate in a responsible way."
>     The USOC's anxiety at overexuberant displays of jingoism is a far
> cry from scenes at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where
> the American flag became the defining symbol of the Games.
>     A different environment awaits the American team in Athens, where
> officials are anxious to replace apple pie with humble pie.
>     Americans were booed at the World Athletics Championships in Paris
> last year largely because of Jon Drummond's histrionic protest at his
> disqualification from a heat of the 100 meters. Also, at an Olympic
> soccer qualifying match in Mexico earlier this year, the American team
> was subjected to sustained razzing by a section of the crowd,
> including chants of "Osama, Osama!"
>     "We're not the favorite kid in the world right now," conceded Bill
> Martin, the USOC's acting president. "We are sensitive not only to the
> security issue, but to jingoism in its raw sense. That is why we are
> sending people around to educate the athletes as to the appropriate
> behavior."

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