On the eve of the gala opening ceremony for the 1996 Summer Olympics, former President Jimmy Carter, who was once accused of trying to wreck the Games, is hovering gingerly at the fringes of the hoopla.
The boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, set in motion by Carter in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, still evokes bitterness, and there is at best a grudging forgiveness among Olympic officials and athletes alike. They note with satisfaction that the Games not only survived but thrived in the years after more than 50 nations, at Carter's urging, turned their backs on the 1980 Olympics.
The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games has been careful from the beginning to orchestrate Carter's limited involvement in these Games, said Andrew Young, co-chairman of the committee. Although Carter was on the list of community heroes picked by the committee to carry the Olympic torch as it passed through his hometown, Plains, Ga., last week, he was unable to participate, according to official announcements, because he had been called out of town to receive an award. Instead he left a videotaped address that was played for the gathering.
Read Full Article »