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Pre-Olympics Festival Set at Lake Placid

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From Associated Press

Lake Placid, site of two Winter Olympics, will host an international winter sports festival in 1991 that will serve as a warm-up for the 1992 Olympics in France, officials said today.

The festival will be modeled after the summer sports festival held for American athletes two years after every Olympics, but athletes from other countries will be allowed to participate, said Don Krone, spokesman for the Olympic Regional Development Authority in Lake Placid.

The 1992 Winter Olympics are planned for Albertville, France.

Lake Placid hosted the winter games in 1932 and 1980. The 1980 event was memorable for both the United States’ dramatic hockey upset of the Soviet Union and logistical difficulties that made traveling to the Adirondack village a nightmare.

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Competition in the biathlon, bobsled, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, speed skating and alpine skiing is anticipated.

The Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg is the site of the only bobsled and luge runs in the United States. Skiing events will be held at nearby Whiteface Mountain.

The Olympic Speed Skating Oval, site of Eric Heiden’s performance winning five gold medals in 1980, will also be used, as will the arena that hosted the 1980 hockey competition, officials said.

The festival will be paid for by corporate sponsors and the USOC, Krone said. Officials are “very optimistic” about getting television coverage of the inaugural event, he added.

“It will be very important for winter sports for visibility and for giving them (athletes) an excellent opportunity to compete in the United States,” Krone said.

The announcement of the major sporting event, made with Gov. Mario M. Cuomo in the Capitol, is also a boon for the economically depressed Adirondack region and its tourist industry, Krone said.

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Firm dates have not been set for the festival, which will take place in February, 1991, he said.

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