Skiing Gets A Lift

The IOC welcomed the agreement to raise the starting point of the men’s downhill for the Nagano Olympics and blamed cultural differences for the five-year impasse.

Nagano organizers announced in Japan that they had decided to raise the starting gate for the race by 279 feet to an altitude of 5,791 feet.

The deal amounted to a compromise with the international ski federation, which wanted the start raised to 5,906 feet.

The World Cup men’s downhill, canceled last weekend at Whistler Mountain, Canada, will be run Thursday to inaugurate the new Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek, Colo.

The rest of the World Cup schedule at Beaver Creek will remain unchanged, with the men’s downhill on Friday and the Super-G on Saturday.