IN BRIEF : Atlanta Urged to Seek Olympics

The president of the International Olympic Committee encouraged Atlanta officials today to continue fighting to host the 1996 Summer Games.

Juan Antonio Samaranch was making his first visit to the city since it became the U.S. nominee for the 1996 Olympics. His schedule included a tour of the city’s sports facilities as well as meetings with government and business leaders.

“What can I say--you will be one of the six candidates,” he told a joint session of the Georgia Legislature. “But I think with public and private support, the beautiful Atlanta can be very, very strong.”

Samaranch was accompanied by Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and Bob Helmick, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee. After a lunch with former Olympians from Georgia, he was to cut the ribbon to officially open the Atlanta Organizing Committee’s office.

Samaranch told the Legislature that he is often asked what a city must have to put together a winning package for the Olympics.

His answer, he said, is always “the right people . . . and I hope and I think you have the right people now working and fighting to get the games for Atlanta.”