OLYMPICS: NOTEBOOK;Changes in Store for Nagano

By Jerry Schwartz, By the New York Times

July 18, 1996

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Olympic organizers from Nagano, Japan, have been asked to make their downhill ski run longer and their opening ceremony shorter, the director general of the Nagano Organizing Committee said today.

After meeting twice with members of the International Olympic Committee in Atlanta, Nagano officials said they probably will comply with the request relating to the ceremony, but they may have difficulty making the downhill ski run longer for the 1998 Winter Games.

At 2,923 meters, Nagano's planned downhill run for men would be the shortest in Winter Olympics history. But the top of the run backs up to a national park, said Makoto Kobayashi, director general of Nagano's organizing committee.

"Increasing the starting point into the area of the national park special zone would not be possible," Kobayashi said. "We had a very frank exchange of opinions, and thanks to this I believe that mutual understanding has deepened." JERRY SCHWARTZ

A version of this article appears in print on , Section B, Page 12 of the National edition with the headline: OLYMPICS: NOTEBOOK;Changes in Store for Nagano. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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