Latvia, Estonia Will Go It Alone in Olympics

The newly independent Baltic republics of Latvia and Estonia on Friday rejected an invitation to join a Soviet team for next year’s Olympics, a Soviet wire service reported.

Ulyana Semyonova, vice president of Latvia’s Olympic Committee, said the republic would “by no means” accept an appeal from Soviet sports officials to form a united team for the Albertville and Barcelona Games.

“We have become a separate state and we have nothing to do with the U.S.S.R.,” said Semyonova, a former star of several Soviet European and world championship basketball teams.

Mart Tarmak, a member of Estonia’s Olympic Committee, said his republic also planned to have independent teams.

There was no comment from Lithuania, but officials have said its Olympic Committee will meet later this month to consider its own team for the Games.