Terror's Venue

FEAR CASTS A GRUESOME SHADOW ON MOMENTS THAT WERE MEANT TO BE GOLDEN

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    In the Olympic Village, the mood may have changed, but for the most part it was determined. "We've got to get on with what we're here to do," says Robert Norris, a track-and-field coach for the South African team. "We're too busy to worry." U.S. hammer thrower Kevin McMahon agreed. After years of preparation, he was ready to compete Saturday. "This is just a reminder that sports is the ideal, not the reality," McMahon says. "It would be nice to do nothing but practice and compete, but that would be living life with blinders on."

    Still, it was not much fun. A large section of downtown near Olympic Park remained blocked off Saturday. Fans with tickets to the hotly anticipated track-and- field events Saturday arrived to find flags flying at half-staff and a dense cordon of security around Olympic Stadium. Basketball lovers at the Georgia Dome were forced to wait in extra-long lines, as several entrances were closed. And at Lake Lanier, where rowing finals were taking place, soldiers toting machine guns patrolled the grandstands. It did not look much like America. But it was. --Reported by Mark Coatney, Adam Cohen, Sally B. Donnelly, Barry Hillenbrand, Lawrence Mondi, Robert Sullivan, David E. Thigpen, Steve Wulf and Richard Zoglin/Atlanta and Elaine Shannon and Douglas Waller/Washington

    A special Website at time.com/olympic--bombing features the latest Atlanta explosion news and insights from TIME correspondents.

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