Olympic spirit bruised but not bowed

For the people of Atlanta, who had looked forward to the centennial Olympic Games for six years, it was, as one of them said, the "end of the innocence". The crude but lethal home-made pipe and nail bomb which ripped through revellers at Centennial Park, social focal point of both the city and the Olympics, on Saturday did not interrupt the Games. But, by killing a Georgia mother, wounding 110 others, including a father of two from Norfolk, and causing the fatal heart attack of a Turkish television cameraman, it changed the mood of this city overnight.

"The Olympic spirit is alive and well in Atlanta," International Olympic Committee president Juan Samaranch said yesterday. Alive, yes, residents agreed, but somewhat bruised.

The head of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, Billy Payne, said Mr Samaranch had called him after the bombing to say there were three choices: continue the Games, delay them, or call them off. The decision to go on was taken within four hours of the blast.

The show went on. At the weekend, venues were 90 per cent full - record Olympic attendances, according to Mr Samaranch - and fans were diverted by the disqualification of the England athlete Linford Christie, and three doping cases. But nerves were on edge and huge queues built up as security checks were tightened.

Some fans heeded the organisers' advice and arrived at the Olympic stadium at dawn for the women's marathon, which started at 7am.

The FBI, heading the investigation, confirmed that the bomb was deliberately aimed against people, not property, but said no motive had been uncovered. An advance telephone warning from what sounded like "a white American male" was the only real clue and suspicion fell on racist or anti-government militia groups similar to those suspected of involvement in last year's Oklahoma City bombing.

Despite the "white male" comment, and reflecting simmering racial unrest in the South, where several black churches have been torched, an unidentified black male was arrested two hours after the blast. Police said he had been seen near the site and had made previous bomb threats but they indicated they did not consider him a serious suspect.

The FBI was said to be looking into a small right-wing paramilitary group calling itself the Militia at Large for the Republic of Georgia, which has used similar pipe bombs in the past and reportedly threatened to bomb Olympic sites. Over the past three months, three men linked to the group have been arrested in Georgia and face trial for allegedly plotting to attack state and federal building and officials.

Opinions were split as to whether security personnel had saved scores of lives before the bomb went off or had been slow and uncoordinated in their response. Georgia investigators admitted that agents at the scene had not been informed quickly of the phoned warning. They discovered the unattended knapsack themselves at the foot of a sound-and-light tower for a late-night concert and began moving people back.

But the park was still packed when the device went off at 1.30am, half an hour after the telephoned warning which specified that a bomb was in the park.

Revellers at first thought the blast was the start of a firework display. Only after a couple of minutes, when people saw bodies on the ground, did reality sink in. Most people then ducked, thinking someone had been shooting, and raced from the park.

Atlantans, visitors and some athletes had crowded the park nightly for free concerts during the first week of the Games. A concert starring soul singer James Brown and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers scheduled for Saturday was cancelled after the bombing and the park remained closed until FBI investigators complete their sifting for clues.

Leading article, page 13

John Carlin, page 15