FRIDAY IN ATLANTA : HIGHLIGHTS & LOWLIGHTS.

LONG GONE: German long jumper Heike Drechsler, right, said she definitely will not compete in the Olympics because of an injury to her right thigh. Drechsler, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist, announced her withdrawal at a meet in Gladbach, Germany, telling fans, ``I'm definitely not going to Atlanta. It's no use - it's over.'' The 31-year-old star injured her leg at a meet in May.

FLAG PROTEST: A civil rights leader set a torch to the Georgia flag - which incorporates the Confederate battle flag - on the steps of the Capitol in view of spectators heading to the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games. ``Damn you and goodbye!'' declared Hosea Williams, touching the flame from a wooden torch to the nylon fabric, which melted in places but did not burst into flames. It is not a crime in Georgia to burn the state flag. Civil rights leaders, who contend the image is racist, have tried unsuccessfully for years to change the flag, to which the Confederate Stars and Bars were added in 1956. They vowed to stage daily rallies at the Games in order to take their fight to a worldwide audience.

FALSE ALARM: Police evacuated part of the Olympics' International Broadcasting Center after a suspicious package was found there just hours before the Opening Ceremonies. Bomb squads swept through the downtown offices after a security employee noticed ``a suspicious item,'' said Pamela Swanson, spokeswoman for the special State Olympic Law Enforcement Command. The item ``was examined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and determined not to have been a threat,'' she said.

DICTATORIAL DEFENSE: IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch defended the granting of top Olympic awards to former Communist dictators from Romania and East Germany. Samaranch, the IOC president since 1980, came under fire for Olympic Orders presented to Nicolae Ceaucescu and Erich Honecker. ``Presidents Ceaucescu and Honecker received not only awards from the IOC, they received important awards of many countries around the world, many Western countries,'' Samaranch said.

LOWERED EXPECTATIONS: Don't get your hopes up for NBC's coverage of the Atlanta Games. In his Olympic media column, Tom Hoffarth tells you what to expect - and, more important, what not to count on - from the TV coverage. Page 3.

UNDETERRED: After he won six gold medals in gymnastics at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus saw his life turned upside down. His wife, Irina, was injured in a ghastly car accident and $50,000 was stolen from his home by a friend. Scherbo has endured both trials to return for this summer's Olympics. Page 3.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) no caption (Heike Drechsler)

(2--color ) no caption (Juan Antonio Samaranch)