Article: De Coubertin might need to be revived if he saw scope and commercialism of current Olympics.(Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)

Pity the Olympic athletes of the past who had to mostly make do with the mundane running, jumping and swimming sports. If only they could have hung around for the 1996 Games in Atlanta, where the competitions begin on Saturday.

Consider if you will: Jim Thorpe, mountain biker.

``Well, when the French guy hit the rut on that last downhill,'' said Thorpe, ``I knew I was cool unless I went over the handlebars.''

Or: Johnny Weissmuller, beach volleyball player.

``Hey, man, like the sun was wicked,'' said Weissmuller. ``I just kept digging the ball and hoping we had the karma today.''

Obviously, those were missed opportunities, but not missed ...

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