TO OUR READERS

By BRUCE HALLETT PRESIDENT

It hardly takes a journalistic genius to figure out that the 1996 Olympic Games deserve special treatment. This summer marks 100 years since competitors from 13 countries met in Athens to revive an athletic tradition dating back to ancient Greece, and such a milestone obviously cries out for recognition. But it does take a lot of thought and effort to avoid the ever present pitfalls of cliche and predictability.

TIME's secret weapon: senior writer STEVE WULF. Nearly a year ago, Wulf began pushing the idea of a special issue devoted to the Olympic centennial. His proposal was accepted--on the condition that he set aside his hat as one of TIME's more eloquent and energetic writers to supervise the project. The magazine you're about to read is the happy result.

Wulf, who edited the issue and wrote two of the stories, says, "The work was made much easier by the writers to whom we assigned the stories and by our good fortune in having what I consider an editorial Dream Team." Working alongside Wulf were reporter LAWRENCE MONDI, deputy picture editor MARYANNE GOLON and deputy art director JANE FREY, and they weathered the inevitable crises of creation beautifully. Adds Wulf: "It was such an enjoyable, cooperative effort that there were times I felt we were competing in the quadruple sculls."

Mondi brought his years of experience on TIME's Olympic beat to the project, putting together the Viewer's Guide, making sure of the facts in each story and keeping everything on schedule. "I can't think of anyone more piped in to the modern pentathlon community than Larry," says Wulf. "Seriously, I don't know what we would have done without him. Actually I do know--we would have blown deadlines and looked like fools."

Golon spent weeks in Europe last summer poring over historic photo archives for the opening picture essay. She also unerringly matched photographer to subject for the rest of the issue. Her best decision, though, was to push TIME's editors to look at black-and-white photographs shot by David Burnett at last summer's Olympic Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In this era of motor-driven photography, Burnett stepped back in time and tried to capture the essential moment in one shot. His work was so striking that he was dispatched to cover the Penn Relays and other pre-Olympic events in the same style, and the resulting essay echoes the historic photographs that open the magazine. (For the record, two of Burnett's photos from earlier Games were also chosen for the opening picture act.)

For Frey, the chance to supervise the overall look of this issue was a special treat. "So much of the time we're working with death and disaster. It was really fun to do something upbeat," she muses. Frey could also relate to many of the athletes we profiled. She swims, bicycles, plays tennis and runs; a few years ago, she completed the New York Marathon in under four hours. In fact, she says, "putting this issue together was a little like running a marathon." The major difference is that marathoners are in pain for weeks afterward. After this issue, the Dream Team feels nothing but pride, which we think you'll agree is justified.