OLYMPIC SCENE : ATLANTA 1996 : $50 Million Melts a ‘Thick Crust of Ice’ : A weekly update on the summer games at 184 days and counting

The decades-old conflict between the U.S. Olympic Committee and intercollegiate athletics officially ended last week when the NCAA eased restrictions on Olympic participants who want to train at universities, which have some of the finest facilities in the country.

Athletes in individual sports, such as swimming and gymnastics, who are considered by the USOC as potential Olympians, will be able to train with their college teams, a departure from the past, when they would have to leave school and work out on their own. One of the main reasons the NCAA was reluctant to accommodate Olympians was because of possible recruiting and coaching advantages a world-class athlete might bring.

NCAA Executive Director Cedric Dempsey said he expects the USOC to contribute about $50 million over five years to support Olympic sports at the schools in exchange for the rule change.

“A decade ago I would never thought this would have happened,” said Mike Moran, USOC spokesman. “It is a far cry from the days of . . . a thick crust of ice between the two organizations.”

But the new era of cooperation bloomed when Dick Schultz, former NCAA executive director, was named USOC chief in July.

“Janet Evans had a difficult choice, one that we shouldn’t force young people to make,” said Robert Bowlsby, Iowa athletic director and member of the NCAA Olympic liaison committee.

After becoming the swim star of the 1988 Summer Olympics, Evans had to drop out of Stanford to continue her international career. She eventually earned a degree at USC last year while training with the Trojans under her coach, Mark Schubert. But in order to train with USC swimmers, Evans had to be listed as an assistant coach.

“It got to the point where if there were several good athletes, we had to pick one to be the volunteer coach or to play games to stretch out their degree,” Schubert said.

FACTOID

A record number of women will compete at Atlanta, 3,759, compared to 2,851 at Barcelona. Women’s softball, soccer and beach volleyball have been added, the women’s basketball field has been expanded from eight teams to 12 and there are two additional women’s events in track and field--the triple jump and the 5,000 meters.

NEWSMAKER

Bela Karolyi, looking out at his ranch about an hour north of Houston, said Friday that retirement is never far from his mind, though he will continue to coach as long as his prized student, Dominique Moceanu, stays in the sport.

Karolyi, tired of his sport’s politics and direction, retired from coaching elite gymnasts after the 1992 Olympics, but returned in 1994 to coach Kim Zmeskal, who is attempting a comeback. Karolyi said Zmeskal is progressing nicely. She will turn 20 this year.

“She could easily make the team,” said Karolyi, 54.

Karolyi’s six-pack--his prized elite students--include Kerri Strug, a former Olympian. Strug, 18, left the Colorado Aerials in December to return to Karolyi because she wanted more intense workouts. She looked great in practice.

“It is great having her in the gym because we spur each other on,” said Moceanu, 14.

Even though she is the youngest, Moceanu is considered the veteran of the gym. She has been training at Karolyi’s gym since she was 10. Strug, who plans to attend Stanford after the Olympics, left when Karoyli retired.

LAUREL WREATH

To USA Gymnastics for deciding that the women’s Olympic trials in June will determine the Olympic team. In 1992, the federation used a complicated and controversial method of choosing the team. Kim Kelly, who made the team outright in the trials, was kept off after a committee voted her out.

THORN WREATH

To USA Gymnastics for selecting Indianapolis over Anaheim as the U.S. bid city to host the 1999 World Championships. Indianapolis was chosen because of the outstanding job it did as host of the 1991 World Championships. But by choosing the same city, USA Gymnastics lost an opportunity to spread the appeal of world-class gymnastics to another part of the country.

THIS WEEK

President Clinton, honorary president of the USOC, toured the $209-million, 83,500-seat Olympic stadium under construction in Atlanta on Monday while visiting the city to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He was particularly interested in the private box from which he will open the Games on July 19 and also took a walk on the track.

Atlanta’s Games for the most part are privately funded, but the federal government will provide about $90 million for security and transportation.

Olympic Scene Notes

Just because Chinese swimmers did not perform well last year, don’t count them out for Atlanta. In her second and third international appearances, Han Xue, 14, broke the women’s 50-meter breaststroke short-course world record twice within four days. . . . The 11 cities that submitted bids for the 2004 Summer Olympics by last Wednesday’s deadline were Athens, Rome, Stockholm, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Turkey; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Seville, Spain; Cape Town, South Africa; St. Petersburg, Russia, and Lille, France.

Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago and UCLA, third in the 100 meters in track and field’s World Championships last year, will run against Jeff Williams of Los Angeles, third in the 200 at the World Championships, in the 50 meters at the L.A. Invitational indoor meet on Feb. 24 at the Sports Arena.

Sinjin Smith of Pacific Palisades and Carl Henkel of Redondo Beach finished with more points than any other U.S. team on the FIVB tour and qualified as one of three men’s teams that will represent the United States in Olympic beach volleyball. Smith, 39, came out of retirement in 1994 to join the tour.

The U.S. women’s basketball team, 18-0, against NCAA teams, began a seven-game tour of Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday with a 105-66 victory over Uralmash of Russia. . . . The eighth and final berth in the Olympic baseball tournament went to Australia. Other teams already qualified are the United States, Cuba, Nicaragua, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and Italy. . . . The L.A. Lights Rhythmic Gymnastics International meet will be Friday and Saturday at Veterans Auditorium in Culver City. . . . Three-time NCAA gymnastics champion Jennie Hanson, from Kentucky, said she wants to try aerial skiing after she finishes with gymnastics.

Times staff writers Elliott Almond and Randy Harvey contributed to this story.