IOC WEIGHS IN ON MEDAL CONTROVERSY

Caught off guard by the Ross Rebagliati-marijuana controversy, the IOC will look into use of the drug by Olympic athletes, hoping to avoid future misunderstandings and preserve “fundamental values.”

Rebagliati, the Canadian snowboard champion, lost his gold medal temporarily, after testing positive for marijuana, then got it back after winning an appeal on the ground that pot was not among the drugs specifically forbidden in the Olympics.

The IOC said at a press conference Saturday that the lack of an agreement with the International Ski Federation, which has marijuana on its list of banned drugs, left it with no choice but to return the medal.

“Because the agreement did not exist, no other judgment was possible,” said Francois Carrard, IOC director general.

The IOC is working on a revised medical code and hopes to have it in place before the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.

Carrard said the five-member group scrutinizing marijuana use will consider “matters of social and ethical concerns, and fundamental values, which are at stake.”

AND DON’T EXPECT MINTS ON THE PILLOWS

U.S. biathletes--the biathlon combines cross-country skiing with target shooting--are getting a good taste of Japanese culture.

Instead of staying in the athletes’ village in Nagano, they are at a small hotel in Nozawa Onsen, site of biathlon competition and one of the venues farthest from Nagano.

The athletes are sleeping on straw mats on the floor--that should do wonders for their shooting eyes--leaving their shoes at the door of the hotel, and bathing in a communal tub.

“We are getting the best of both worlds, the Olympic experience mixed with the Japanese experience,” assistant coach Tim Derrick said.