Seattle sports festival planned

A major international athletics competition -- modeled after the Goodwill Games held here in 1990 -- is scheduled for Seattle next June, with plans for similar events in the following two years.

The competition, tentatively titled the USA-China Invitational, is expected to include Olympic sports from basketball to gymnastics to speedskating. It will be billed as "The Road to Beijing," a reference to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Next year's event is expected to last four days, with expanded plans for 2006 and an option for a third event in 2007.

The event is being planned by the Seattle Organizing Committee, the same organization that staged the Goodwill Games here.

A spokeswoman for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said the mayor is "very supportive" of the event, adding that "many details" still need to be worked out.

A U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman confirmed yesterday that there have been discussions about the event, but said there was no final agreement. But the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has learned that letters of commitment to participate have been sent by both the USOC and the Chinese Olympic Committee to the Seattle Organizing Committee.

The Seattle committee's plans for the event include an international arts festival and a major health summit.

The inaugural event next summer will include as many as 1,000 athletes, organizers say. The United States and China are the principal countries involved, but the organizers say the field will include selected athletes from many other Pacific Rim countries, competing in a "finals only" format.

The athletic events being planned include track and field, archery, diving, table tennis, badminton and also short-track speedskating -- an Olympic winter sport -- which would be expected to feature gold-medalist Apolo Anton Ohno of Seattle.

In addition to the athletes from China and the United States, planners envision a significant contingent from Russia, and elite athletes from other Pacific Rim countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and New Zealand will be invited.

Jim Dwyer, who is chairman of the Seattle Organizing Committee, spoke about the plans for the event.

"We'll have the athletic competition as our foundation," Dwyer said. "The vision is we'll be able to use that as the focal point of bringing together health and medical scientists, trade specialists, a cultural event, and include a diverse array of people and backgrounds.

"That has not been done in many years (here), and we frankly need something in this community that can be a source of pride, and a source of fun and a source of excitement."

The organizers envision performance art and visual art exhibitions and cultural exchange programs focusing on children. They also plan forums on health and economic issues among representatives from the countries involved.

"It's more than sports," said Jan Drago, Seattle City Council president. "They're broadening it to include arts and culture, and also have a medical summit. That really feeds right in to our interest in growing the biotech industry in Seattle."

Bob Walsh, who played a lead role in bringing three Final Fours and the Goodwill Games to Seattle, took the initiative in bringing the USA-China Invitational to Seattle after speaking with representatives from the USOC. In the 1990s, Walsh spearheaded an effort to bring the Olympics to Seattle -- first the 2008 Games, then the 2012 Olympiad. After community opposition surfaced, the City Council killed the effort in December 1998. Drago was the only council member to vote in favor of the Olympic bid.

City council member Nick Licata, who opposed bidding for the Olympics, said last night he would be supportive of an event such as this, which promotes cultural exchange and does not have the same impact on the area.

The China event's budget doesn't call for a financial commitment from the city, according to Drago.

"We have had preliminary discussions with a group of business leaders in Seattle about the possibility of bringing a multisport event to the city," said Darryl Seibel, a USOC spokesman. "But the details are not yet final, and beyond that there's really not much I can say at this point."

Seibel said he could not put a timeline on when a final agreement would be reached. But one organizer said an announcement could come within 10 days.

The Seattle Organizing Committee is headed by a 15-person board, which could expand to accommodate representatives from the USOC.

"We've been working on it for 10 months," said Walsh. "It's going to be a great event for the city. We're very excited about it. We have a lot of people working behind the scenes, but the official announcement will have to come from the U.S. Olympic Committee."

Drago said she was updated on the plans earlier this week.

"It sounds very exciting," Drago said. "I think that it is a very appropriate venue to take place in Seattle. It has been a long time since the Goodwill Games, and that type of activity in Seattle, and this will fit in very well."

Drago said that a major selling point from the city's perspective is the existence of current venues for events, which will span from Everett to Tacoma and likely include KeyArena, Seahawks Stadium and the Tacoma Dome.

NBC, which has the broadcast rights for the Olympics, will be approached about buying the television rights for the event.

No estimates of the economic benefits to Seattle are available, but Walsh estimated that when the Final Four was in Seattle, it brought in $60 million to $80 million for the weekend. The Goodwill Games in 1990 generated more than $300 million, he said.

The Goodwill Games included more than 2,000 athletes. This event will be smaller at first, but while the Goodwill Games were a one-time event in Seattle, next summer will be just the starting point for the U.S.A.-China Invitational, organizers say.

NOT JUST FOR ATHLETES

Olympic sports are at the center of the USA-China Invitational planned by the Seattle Organizing Committee, but they're not the only thing.

ATHLETICS

The inaugural event would feature competition from June 9 -12, 2005. As many as 1,000 athletes are expected to compete in sports ranging from track and field to basketball to diving to table tennis and badminton. Venues will include KeyArena, the Tacoma Dome and Seahawks Stadium.

ARTS FESTIVAL

Performance-art and visual-art exhibitions from the countries competing at the invitational are planned. A youth exchange is planned, to include gatherings during the week of athletic competition.

HEALTH AND ECONOMIC FORUMS

Dr. Lee Hartwell, Nobel Prize winner and director and president of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is expected be part of a leadership forum for Pacific Rim health leaders.

P-I reporter Danny O'Neil can be reached at 206-448-8209 or dannyo'neil@seattlepi.com