Nagano 1998: The Winter Games

Why, just four years ago, The Winter Olympics were a setting for scandal and controversy and tabloid headlines, all Nancy and Tonya, catty remarks and vainglorious ambition. What a difference an Olympiad makes. Now, in a near rustic city in Japan, the Games beckon once again as a refuge from the snares of the world, where the tawdry can be banished (alas, except for commercial logos) and where the most compelling mysteries involve the intricacies of quad jumps, clap skates, luge weight and curling. For Nagano is robed in that symbol of purity: snow, unsullied and ready for the pursuit of...

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