By Emily Brewer

After 38 years of sponsoring technology for the Olympics, IBM will pass the torch following the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia.

The company cited the rising costs of the work as the reason for its decision not to sponsor the effort.

IBM spent $100 million this year at the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, as the chief technology sponsor for the games. It's a costly enterprise to build PCs, design networks and program software for the world's largest and most prestigious sporting event.

While IBM's Olympic leadership is headquartered in New York, employees in Cary, N.C., have led design, building and coordination teams at games sites.

Olympic officials say they will spread the technology sponsorship among several companies. Computer maker Hewlett-Packard and networking company Novell have expressed some interest.

Emily Brewer can be reached at
emilybrewer@mindspring.com