SUMMER GAMES SPOTLIGHT : BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS / DAY 15 : TEAM SOUTH AFRICA

Mluleki George, vice chairman of the South African Olympic Committee, was chatting with a reporter at the Olympic village when a blond giant in the green-and-yellow South African national uniform wandered past and called good-naturedly to the reporter: “Don’t believe a word that man tells you.”

George, who is black, smiled and bantered with the huge Afrikaner.

“After 30 years away, everybody seems as happy as we are that South Africa is back,” George said. “Attitudes take many years to change. We must build trust and we still have a long way to go, but most on the team here are making an effort.”

* This a daily roundup of Olympic-related items from reporters in Barcelona from the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and Baltimore Sun, all Times-Mirror newspapers.