July 28, 1996
Explosion sobers Olympic spirit
By KEN FIDLIN -- Toronto Sun
ATLANTA -- The train started to accelerate out of the station, then suddenly lurched to a stop. Transit riders, normally oblivious to such routine interruptions, exchanged nervous glances.
A minute passed. Then two. A woman in a uniform moved briskly, purposefully, through the car.
"Mommy, I'm scared," said a little girl of about 10.
A moment later, the MARTA train was on its way and everyone resumed breathing.
The Olympic City was one giant exposed nerve ending yesterday, afraid of its own shadow and understandably so. An inconsequential thing like an unscheduled train delay or a truck backfiring, or even the sound of a starter's pistol at one of the Olympic events, could set your pulse racing.
The fear and panic that swept Atlanta's downtown streets following a bomb blast just before 1:30 a.m., yesterday had subsided, replaced by a gloomy uneasiness.
What now? What next?
Many people arose yesterday to a new Olympic reality: two dead, more than 100 injured is the legacy of the Games of the 26th Olympiad.
"I and my family can never enjoy the Olympics again the way they were," lamented Canadian cyclist Curt Harnett. "I know I can't go out and feel entirely safe. The innocence of the Olympics has been blown out of the water.
"I'm not going to sit and hide in my room, but it has changed the way I look at things. It's funny about cowards like this, hiding behind their plastic explosives. Show us who you are. If you have something to say, say it face-to-face.
"It happened here, but it could just as well have happened in downtown Thunder Bay. It's just too bad there are so many cowards in this world."
With each passing hour yesterday, you could feel the Olympic City rousing itself to move on, willing itself to put the worst fears behind, or at least on hold. The crowds showed up at every sporting event and cheered just as loudly.
The Games themselves dragged the city forward, uninterrupted through what previously had been billed Super Saturday. The International Olympic Committee had acted swiftly and decisively to keep the Games on schedule.
In the eyes of one volunteer worker, it's a case of never letting them see you sweat.
"It's a tragedy in more ways than one," said David Park, a volunteer at the cycling venue who lives in suburban Decatur, Ga. "First, there was loss of human life. But second there is the tragedy of what it does to all of us emotionally. The world is a cynical enough place already.
"We can't run and hide and call off the Games. It was important for me and for all of us to show up this morning and move ahead.
"If we let this (expletive deleted) rule our lives, then he's won. He's beaten us. I, for one, am not going to let that happen."
Taken a lambasting
Americans have taken a lambasting in the international press for the organization of these Games. But in recent days, these Atlanta Olympics have settled into their own rhythm as athletes from 192 nations held their sports high. It will be another serious test to see if, with a week to go, Atlanta can recover some of what has been lost in the past two days.
Say what you will about Americans, but they never run from a serious challenge. You could feel them rallying yesterday.
At a checkpoint at the Stone Mountain Archery Center, a young woman patiently waited in line for a security officer to screen people entering the venue, thoroughly inspecting anything in which things are carried. Yesterday, as they have from the beginning, they did their jobs with good cheer and for once, you could see people didn't feel inconvenienced.
"For about two minutes this morning I thought about staying home and then I got angry," the woman said. "I'm not going to be a prisoner in my own home. These people have important jobs to do. And today I had an obligation to be here."
Her job didn't need a description. The implied obligation was clear enough: stand up and be counted.
The Olympic Games took a severe beating yesterday but like all institutions based upon sound principles, it will survive. It will survive because people won't let the cowards take over. It will survive because people will fight back.
