"The French love sportsmen, not sports," said Jean-Claude Killy, the former Olympic skiing great who is now co-president of the Olympic organizing committee.
It is that unconcerned approach that has many wondering whether everything will be ready when the Games open on Feb. 8. The men's downhill course has not been tested, except as a summer buffet for sheep. Sun is threatening to melt the lower curves of the bobsled and luge run. The hockey arena is located at nearly 5,000 feet; goalies will need face masks and others may need oxygen masks.
Sand has risen through the ice at the outdoor speedskating rink, and the open-ended stadium is vulnerable to dust and rocks in a strong wind. Car and bus travel on the majestic but treacherous mountain roads could become an unintended luge run under a covering of snow and ice; it is not uncommon for hour drives to become nine-hour traffic jams on crowded ski weekends in inclement weather.
The original budget of $500 million has grown by 33 percent. About $30 million in extra money was needed to stabilize the bobsled run and the ski- jumping ramp, which were built on soft, watery ground. But if the French are worried, they are not letting on. They have a saying, Je m'en foutisme. Loosely translated, it means, "I don't give a damn, I'm going to do it my way."
"To virtually every other country - the U.S., Switzerland, Germany - it would seem like things are chaotic," said Peter Hankey, owner of a sports- marketing firm who served as guide and translator for a media group touring the Olympic sites last week. "But the French say things will be ready on the first night. They will go off OK."
In truth, most of the facilities have been completed or nearly completed.
