BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS : A LITTLE ADVICE FOR DOWN SOUTH

Behind the scenes, observers from Atlanta are watching every aspect of the games with wide eyes and bursting notebooks. They have four years to get ready for their own summer spectacular.

Barcelona Mayor Pasqual Maragall knows what many of the visiting Georgians must be thinking, and he has some reassuring words:

“I was in Seoul in ‘88, and I thought ‘There’s no way we can do it as well,’ ” Maragall recalled. “With that in mind, I’ve warned the mayor of Atlanta that he can expect to go through a difficult psychological period. He said he was feeling somewhat pained and was glad I told him.”

Maragall also has some thoughts for Atlanta planners.

“It is a question of momentum,” he said. “My advice is to do it your own way and to stick to it once you have begun.”

This a daily roundup of Olympic-related items from reporters in Barcelona from the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and Baltimore Sun, all Times-Mirror newspapers.