Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 24, 1992 TAG: 9202240151
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ALBERTVILLE, FRANCE LENGTH: Medium
LILLEHAMMER READY TO TAKE TORCH IN '94
Norway's snow-crazy Vikings raided France, and are bringing their haul - gold, silver, bronze and the Winter Olympics themselves - home to the birthplace of skiing.The Norwegians have only two years, instead of the usual four, to finish preparations for the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, a small town in south Norway's mountains. They aren't worried.
"On the contrary, I think it is an advantage," said Gerhard Heiberg, director of Lillehammer '94. "Right now, we have a wave of enthusiasm both from Norway and abroad about Winter Games."
At Sunday night's closing ceremonies, the Olympic flag was handed over to Lillehammer officials, to fly over the city during the 17th Winter Games, from Feb. 12-27, 1994.
For Norwegians, the return of their 40-year-old flag, used at every opening ceremony since it was made for the 1952 Oslo Games, means the Olympics are finally back where they belong: In the cradle of skiing.
"The flag coming home is very important to us. It is a symbol. It will be coming home on the 40th anniversary of the Winter Games in Oslo," Heiberg said.
Norway sent children dressed in Viking garb and a polar bear made of ice to collect the flag at the Albertville closing ceremony.
Construction is ahead of schedule and under budget, and most 1994 venues will be operating at least a year before the Games, officials said.
Heiberg figures Norway's strong performance in Albertville - 20 medals including nine gold - will fan Olympic fever already consuming his country of 4.2 million people. And many of the stars of Albertville will have a chance to try again for gold in Lillehammer.
"Our concept - the Compact Games - is different, because everything is so close together," he said.
The Winter Games, costing about $1.1 billion, will be concentrated around Norway's largest lake, Mjoesa, slashing travel times between events for spectators, athletes and the media. The concept swayed the International Olympic Committee in Norway's favor in 1988. The Albertville Winter Games were scattered over a 650-square-mile area.
Lillehammer, 110 miles north of Oslo, is a popular vacation retreat and artists colony of 23,000 people, on the lakeshore at the foot of the mountains.
Lillehammer may be the official host, but the Winter Games belong to all Norwegians.
"Norway is a winter sports country, not just in our generations but going back thousands of years," Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland said in Albertville. "It will be a Games with the spirit and the support of the Norwegian people."
"Organizing the Olympic Games is an honor." she said. "Lillehammer and Norway will spare no effort in preparing for the Games."
The Norwegians are building an ice-skating rink inside a mountain, blasting a grotto into solid rock. Another rink will look like a giant, stylized Viking ship turned upside down. Most venues are new, and the few that aren't will be completely renovated.
Organizers sent 350 Norwegians to Albertville to observe how the French handled the Games, and are training thousands of volunteers for 1994.
King Harald, Queen Sonja, the crown prince, the prime minister, much of the government and hordes of fans were in Albertville to roar with joy at each victory. Norwegian medalists often enjoyed a handshake from the king and a hug from the prime minister.
"It shows what a great weight we put on hosting the Games. We are a small country that takes this very seriously," said Heiberg. "We want to share our spirit of joy and passion for winter sports. We will try to have the public closer to the events so there can be more noise, more enthusiasm."
The world may remember them as the Viking Games.
Apart from the Viking ship ice hall, Haakon and Kristen - children in Viking garb - are its living mascots. Symbols for all events are based on a 4,000-year-old picture of a skier found carved into a rock in northern Norway. Norwegians say their country is the "cradle of skiing."
If all the Norwegians wanting to attend the games - 75 percent according to one survey - actually came, there would be room for no one else in Lillehammer.
"We will have tickets for foreigners, but this is just more proof of the tremendous enthusiasm there is," said Heiberg.
One thing worries the Norwegians. Parts of the country have suffered four freakishly pleasant winters in a row, with little snow.
"That's the one thing we can't do anything about. So I don't worry about it," Heiberg said.