Ali unveiled as NY bid secret weapon
The Olympic spotlight shone today on the most famous sports star to have walked the Earth: Muhammad Ali.
The heavyweight boxing legend, self-styled as The Greatest with no complaints from the world’s sports lovers, hit town on the eve of the International Olympic Committee’s vote to decide the 2012 Games host.
A burst of camera flashes greeted the 63-year-old as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg gently guided Ali for a photo-call in front of the world’s Press in Singapore.
It lasted four minutes, three of which were spent in a standing ovation.
Ali, wearing a NYC 2012 T-shirt, looked a little dazed and a shadow of his former self after being struck by Parkinson’s disease.
The 1960 Olympic champ did not say a word as Mr Bloomberg described him as a “true hero” and the “secret weapon” of New York’s 2012 bid campaign.
Mr Bloomberg said: “When we talk about true Olympic champions there is one name that always comes to mind – Muhammad Ali, the Greatest.
“The New York City Olympic bid is so thrilled to have the support of Muhammad Ali. He was a gold medal winner and a true hero to all of us.
“You will remember watching him on TV and reading about him. He is still with us. He is still with us, one of the greatest and still one of New York’s secret weapons.”
Ed Hula, editor and founder of Around The Rings, a magazine widely read by the IOC members, said: “I do not think any IOC member is going to vote for NYC because he is invited here.
“Neither do I think that David Beckham is going to produce a wave of votes for London.
“It is good to generate press attention and publicity and that kind of strategy and all the positive images that Ali evokes, but that is not part of the processing of IOC members.”
In response to comments locally that it could be seen as exploitative to make an ill man, however legendary, appear before the press, Mr Hula said: “It is no more exploitative than using Beckham.
“I don’t know. Some stars might be getting fees, like the attention or are doing it for patriotism, but most of the athletes in NYC like the city and genuinely want to do what they can.”
The world has descended upon Singapore over the past week, including a cast list which reads like a who’s who of Olympians, sports stars, politicians and royalty.
England football captain Beckham has immense pulling power in the Far East.
London 2012 has ensured his carefully choreographed appearances have been fairly low-key to avoid the media circus becoming an ugly scrum which repels the IOC.
Sport and the Olympic spirit is supposed to be at the heart of this campaign and not the army of A-list athletes who have been drafted in to help boost popularity.
London wanted to market its high-profile sports ambassadors in a low-key way.
Beckham was pitched as an East End lad who has done well, who comes from the deprived region of east London which will be revived if the Games returns to he UK for the first time since 1948.
London also boasts rowers Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, athletics stars Daley Thompson and Denise Lewis plus England football coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and 1966 World Cup winner Bobby Charlton among its delegation.
The last-minute scramble for votes has seen a host of celebrities arrive in Singapore to support the London, Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow bids.
They include Real Madrid star Raul Gonzalez, footballer Laurent Blanc, cyclist Miguel Indurain, tennis player Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, gymnast Nadia Comaneci, swimmers Ian Thorpe and Janet Evans, heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersey and sprinters Marie-Jose Perec and Stephane Diagana, to name but a few.
Seeing Ali in the flesh was a star attraction.
But whether he can help make New York the undisputed champion of this battle to host the 2012 Olympics is out of his hands.
This bout is decided by up to 116 IOC members, if they all turn up to vote.
New York’s ongoing problems with its centrepiece Olympic stadium may have already thrown in the towel on its challenge.
Perhaps the only thing that has been more eye-catching than the glamorous assembly of the ultra-famous has been an unwitting distraction provided by Singapore.
On Saturday what appeared to be the entire Singapore military paraded through the streets, including legions of soldiers and dozens of tanks driven by men in full camouflage and trucks carrying missiles.
It turned out to be one of seven practices for a National Day parade in August.
