(10 of 10)
Unless the turmoil over this summer's Moscow Games succeeds in destroying the Olympics altogether, some of the athletes who were at Lake Placid will meet again at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, four years from now. But most athletes have a competitive prime that does not last much longer than a cherry blossom, and for them there will be no more Games. Some left Lake Placid with medals and glory. Some came away with nothing more than the memory of having competed. Yet in a sense, that is everything. Beth Heiden, fighting back tears after her last race because, even though she had performed superbly, too many people had expected too much of her, put it pretty well. ''You probably heard that slogan about participation is more important. Well, I believe in it."