Olympic Officials Gear Up to Handle Scoring at Games

Barriers are falling at the seaside Olympic Village.

The air of high athletic purpose is unmistakable, but so is that certain something that blossoms when young people meet under summer skies.

Spanish officials recognize the signs.

On Saturday, the Village medical clinic began offering free contraceptives to any of the 14,200 resident athletes and officials who request them.

“Since the condoms were almost the only thing that cost money here, we decided to give them away, too,” said Dr. Luis Mir, director of the clinic that treats about 250 villagers a day, most for minor complaints.

Mir guesses that the clinic pharmacy, open round-the-clock, will hand out between 50,000 and 100,000 condoms before the Village closes Aug. 12. During the Winter Games at Albertville, France, he noted, about 60,000 were distributed.

Contraceptives had been available from vending machines in Village residence halls at a cost of about $2 for a pack of three. But the machines required Spanish coins, and Mir said there had been many complaints, about both the cost and the inconvenience. An important element in Barcelona’s winning bid for the Games was the promise of free room and board for athletes and their national delegations for the first time in Olympic history.

By anecdotal account of its residents, the social ice was slow to crack in the Village during a frenetic opening week. While some competitors rise at dawn, others do not return to the Village from evening events until long after midnight.

This weekend, though, the sapping regimen of practice and competition is beginning to ease for the first time.

Thousands of athletes have already finished their competitions. For them, suddenly, there is life again beyond sport--more avid attendance at social events within the Village, from disco to bowling.

Shared living and dining facilities seemed to have been chemistry enough for one American woman and her new European beau as they strolled on clouds though the Village on Saturday, but the Information Age is also on tap for those who need introducing.

American athletes jokingly call it the Olympic Video Dating Service.

Here’s how it works: A slick IBM computer system called Amic that links the Games electronically features terminals at every venue, at hotel lobbies and throughout the Village.

Anybody can use a terminal and any athlete can send an electronic message to any other athlete, although casual observation suggests that all of them can run faster than they can type.

“Say you see somebody who looks good on TV. All you need is her name. You look up her biography in the computer, and if she seems interesting you send her a message. Maybe she sends one back. It’s a very good way to meet people,” explained Canadian athlete Edrick Floreal from his seat in front of the terminal.