LILLEHAMMER / ’94 WINTER OLYMPICS : NOTEBOOK

On the theory that extraordinary athletes deserve extraordinary medal ceremonies, the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee came up with a unique victory rostrum for these Games.

The podium on which skiers, ski jumpers and other winners stand to receive their medals was carved out of a 600-year old block of ice taken from the Jostedal Glacier, an idea contributed by architect Ketil Moe of the LOOC’s design office.

“For hundreds of years local people have made use of these chunks of glacial ice for their households and the fish industry,” Moe told the official Olympic newspaper, Hugin. “Thus, glaciers play a role in the everyday life of many Norwegians.”

Lights were placed below the block, creating an impression that the medalists are floating. And lest these Olympians slip, there’s an aluminum grid embedded in the surface to give them traction.

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Finland’s hockey coach, Curt Lindstrom, owns a betting parlor in Stockholm, his hometown. The action is usually confined to horse racing and soccer, but he makes exceptions--and makes bets, too.

Lindstrom made a wager on his own Olympic team but said it was “a long time before the tournament. No betting during the tournament.”

Asked how much he had wagered, he got coy.

“For some people, two crowns is a lot,” he said.

Pressed again, he again declined to specify the amount.

“My wife can hear it,” he said.