Romney is again at the Olympics — as an observer
For another, he is contemplating a run for president.
But some things haven't changed: basking in the revelry of another Olympics.
As Romney and his wife, Ann, make the most of a long weekend in Italy, they say the fond memories left behind of the turnaround he oversaw of the 2002 Winter Games are never too far from the recesses of people's memories.
It probably doesn't hurt that the Romneys have brought with them the U.S. team's official jackets from those Games — black leather Harley Davidson-style jackets with USA stitched on the back — and the coats that the thousands of volunteers wore.
"People flag us down everywhere," when they recognize the jackets, Ann Romney said Sunday in an interview with The Associated Press.
The Romneys are spending a long weekend in Italy, taking in Friday's Opening Ceremony for the Torino Games, rubbing elbows with first lady Laura Bush and her daughter, Barbara — not to mention such former Olympians as Dorothy Hamill, Kerri Strug, Eric Heiden and Herschel Walker.
The Romneys are also rooting on another Olympian: Derek Parra, the 2002 gold medalist in speedskating's 1500-meter event, who stays in their Utah home.
As Romney weighs a run for president, does he hope people remember his role in turning around the bribery-tainted 2002 Salt Lake City Games?
Well, Romney said he isn't one to deal in hypotheticals and won't hazard a guess as to what it would mean for his political future. But he knows it has helped him in his political past.
The drawback of being a career businessman before he ran and won the 2002 race for governor were the doubts among voters that he could handle the world of politics. The Games, he said, show him to be a "person with a heart, with compassion.
"That was helpful for me," he said.
Two years ago, at the Athens Olympics, Romney was honored for his work with Salt Lake City by becoming the first recipient of the Truce Ideal Award, bestowed by the Truce Foundation of the USA.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis and former Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou also were honored at a reception that year aboard the Queen Mary 2, the world's largest luxury liner.
On Sunday, the backdrop was equally resplendent: the Baroque-style, 18th-century palace built for the Savoy royal family.
And it was Romney's turn to hand out the awards. This year's recipients were: Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo, Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini and U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth.
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