SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC MARTTI AHTISAARI
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE’S EVALUATION COMMISSION
AT THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN HELSINKI ON 17.11.1998

There can hardly be another country in whose history sport has such a significant and important place as in Finland’s. It was through sport that we built our national identity in the early decades of this century, both at home and in the world.

In Finland, a powerful breakthrough on the sporting front and the creation of a foundation for our national independence happened at about the same time. In the arts, this historical period is known as the National Romantic. It was then that our most precious national treasures were created. In sport, the whole of Finland was swept along on a tide of Olympic success and euphoria. The magnificent personification of it all was the unforgettable Paavo Nurmi, whom we Finns and also many others believe to be the greatest athlete of our century.

The opening ceremony of the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 is among the most unforgettable moments in Finnish sports history. Paavo Nurmi ran a circuit of the stadium bearing the Olympic torch; it was the only time in the history of the games that the ranks of the athletes dispersed completely, because everyone wanted to see the world’s greatest sportsman. When he raised the torch and the Olympic fire was lit, the biggest dream in Finnish sport had come true. The war had prevented that dream from being realised in 1940. The greatest moment in our sports history to date also symbolically marked the birth of a new Finland, a country in the process of internationalising, opening up to the world and modernising.

My reason for telling this is to strengthen your perception of Finland as a land of Olympic sport. This is a country whose history can not be understood without taking the influence and importance of the Olympic spirit into account.

Helsinki is now bidding to host the Winter Olympics in 2006. This is another shared dream and project, which has the backing of both the State and broad circles of citizens. The arrangement of the Winter Olympics in Helsinki would be the fulfilment of a national dream. It would also make our capital city the first place to have been the venue for both the summer and the winter games. Finland is a country where natural conditions make summer and winter sports possible on an equal footing, both as leisure and in competitive forms. The success that Finnish athletes have enjoyed in the Olympics has been equally strong in summer and winter disciplines.

Hosting the Winter Olympics in Helsinki in 2006 would not, however, be merely the fulfilment of a national dream and goal. We can justifiably say that Finland is in the debt of the international Olympic movement. Are we now in a position to give something new and significant to the movement? Something that would have an enduring and substantial place in history?

I believe we are. I have a background of many years in a great variety of international diplomatic positions. I know well how international understanding and positive development of international relations can best be strengthened and promoted. Therefore I also know that the Olympic movement and the International Olympic Committee are very important. The Olympic movement’s role in emphasising internationalism, peace and friendship is an important unifying factor throughout the world. The movement’s solidarity work gives faith and inspiration to every nation in the process of creating a foundation and identity for its national existence - as Finland was doing at the beginning of this century. Olympic sport reaches out to and unites all of the nations of the world.

We must together ensure that the international Olympic movement’s opportunities to get its message across constantly improve. One dimension of the movement’s authority is its positive ecological effects and above all the example that it provides in this respect. Arranging major sports events in a way that respects the ecological harmony of nature and sustainable development is an enormous challenge. Here, the International Olympic Committee should show the way!

The fact that to all intents and purposes the venues that would be needed in Helsinki are already in place entitles us to talk of an ecologically sustainable alternative. It is an alternative that would also serve as a constructive model to be followed over the long term.

Finland is a great place for winter sports, because snow and ice are part of the natural cycle in this country. What we lack is high mountains. But does that mean that the realisation of our great sports dream, to arrange the Winter Olympics, would be impossible?

Fortunately not! The International Olympic Committee under the leadership of its distinguished President Juan Antonio Samaranch made it possible to divide the games between several venues, even in two different countries.

Experience shows that it is factually impossible to arrange all Winter Olympic disciplines in one city, to gather all athletes in a single Olympic village or to herd all of the media to one centre. In this respect, the future of the Winter Olympics must be examined openly and also against the background of ecological considerations.

It is true that many sports people have been in two minds about the idea of dividing the games, something that has not been done in practice up to now. Nevertheless I believe that Helsinki and Lillehammer could become an ideal model for dividing the games. That is guaranteed by Finland’s and Norway’s history in winter sports and their sports-loving peoples. It is guaranteed by our experience of organising major sports events. It is guaranteed by our desire to make a positive contribution to the development of the international Olympic movement and support the achievement of its goals.

In 2006, the significance of rapidly-developing technology will have reached yet another new level. A level on which the visibility and impact of the Olympic games will be greater than ever. It is important that the International Olympic Committee plays a pioneering role in availing itself of the new opportunities that sport, media and telecommunications offer - a role that suits it and which should be visible and strengthening in all Olympic games. Finland is a world leader where the development and use of new technology, especially telecommunications and data transmission, are concerned. Creating a joint Olympic village in Helsinki and Lillehammer by means of telecommunications is a challenge that we will be delighted to accept.

It is right to strive for victory in sport. But it must be done in a spirit of fair play and with respect for the other contestants. All of the candidates to host the Winter Olympics in 2006 represent magnificent sporting achievement and capacity for organisation. As the head of state of a sporting nation and someone who knows the mood of the Finns well have the confidence to claim that Helsinki can give the games the kind of added value that is not to be found elsewhere.

The dream lives on: to weave the fantastic international traditions of the Summer and Winter Olympics together in one place. Paavo Nurmi will have a successor, the Olympic fire will be lit again in Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium. That is our dream. Let us fulfil it together.