Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 26, 1993 TAG: 9312260103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LILLEHAMMER, NORWAY LENGTH: Medium
World and Olympic champions have hunkered down under artillery fire in Sarajevo; sidestepped mines in Afghanistan; braved the perils of Mogadishu, Somalia, and Beirut, Lebanon; and hugged children in Central America and Africa.
They are the ambassadors of Lillehammer Olympic Aid, a volunteer drive started in the 1994 Winter Olympics host city to help Sarajevo - the 1984 Winter Olympics city - and then expanded with a fund drive that starts today to help other countries.
"I will carry the images of Sarajevo with me for a long time," said Nordic skier Vegard Ulvang, a triple Olympic gold medalist, who donned a helmet and flak jacket to visit Bosnia this fall. "It was a strong experience, especially for someone who has never seen war."
"If my name and so-called stardom can be used to help people who are in the utmost need, I'll gladly join in," said Ulvang, who - like some of the other athletes - broke off training to make their trips.
Images of war-ravaged Sarajevo inspired employees of the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee and some other Lillehammer residents to raise money for food, medicine and supplies as a gesture of Olympic solidarity.
"The whole thing started as a spontaneous action during the Olympics in Barcelona in the summer of 1992," said Audun Tron, mayor of Lillehammer and chairman of the aid committee.
The drive raised almost $4 million - far short of its original goal of $12.5 million - for projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
So officials expanded the drive to include other countries, and asked future Olympic cities to take over and make Olympic Aid's "light of hope" part of the Olympic movement.
"The basis for Olympic aid is in the Olympic Charter," said Tron. The mayor said the charter, the rules and bylaws of the International Olympic Committee, encourages efforts on behalf of peace and that Lillehammer is out to "polish up these ideals."
Thousands of volunteers from Lillehammer Olympic Aid set out Sunday to collect for projects in former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon, Guatemala and Eritrea. The drive lasts through the Feb. 12-27 Winter Games.
For the drive, the south Norway town of 23,000 people joined humanitarian organizations, church groups, the Norwegian Confederation of Sport and the Norwegian Olympic Committee to fund rehabilitation centers and educational programs, mainly for children.
"We haven't set a financial goal," said project leader Svein Tornaas. "But the Norwegian people are usually generous at Christmas time."
To help draw attention to the effort, Lillehammer sent Norway's champions on missions.
Paralympic athlete Cato Zahl Pedersen, who visited a center for the handicapped in Lebanon, said, "It's good to use the attention drawn by the Olympics to focus on the less fortunate."
Hjalmar Anderson - still a household name four decades after he won three speedskating gold medals at the 1952 Oslo Games - went to Afghanistan.
"It was unforgettable to meet those people who suffered through 10 years of war in their homes," said Anderson, 70.
"When you see people from countries that are usually at war hug each other after a sports event, you can see what sports means to making peace," he said.
by CNB