TODAY IN AUSTRALIA

In 18-hour time difference means that events ending by late afternoon in Sydney will appear inthe same day’s paper in L.A.

When it is 1 p.m. Thursday in Los Angeles, it is 7 a.m. Friday in Sydney, Australia.

DELAY OF GAMES

Sydney is 18 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time, meaning it will be midday in Australia when The Times goes to press daily. The Times, with a staff of 16 in Sydney, will be uniquely positioned to report on many events on a same-day basis--and often ahead of those events appearing on television. NBC, which owns U.S. broadcast rights, has decided to show all events on tape delay over its network and cable affiliates. Live coverage on the Canadian Broadcast Co. (CBC) is available only on the old, large C-band satellite-dish systems.

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Event Sydney Time L.A. Time PDT Time on TV Track and field 3:30 p.m. Thu. 9:30 p.m. Wed. 7 p.m.-midnight Thurs. NBC Men’s basketball 10 p.m. Thu. 4 a.m. Thurs. 12:41-2:11 a.m. Fri. NBC Synch. swimming 4 p.m. Thu. 10 p.m. Wed. 7 p.m.-midnight Thurs. NBC Equestrian 4 p.m. Thu. 10 p.m. Wed. 7 p.m.-midnight Thurs. NBC

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ON TV

NBC

* 10 a.m.-noon: Women’s tennis, doubles gold-medal match; gymnastics, rhythmic preliminaries; track and field, men’s decathlon, women’s high jump.

* 7 p.m.-midnight: Track and field, men’s decathlon, women’s 200 semifinals and final, men’s 200 semifinals and final, women’s 1,500 semifinals; women’s diving, springboard final; equestrian, team jumping final; synchronized swimming, team; gymnastics, rhythmic.

* 12:41 a.m.-2:11 a.m.: Men’s basketball quarterfinal, U.S. vs. Russia.

MSNBC

* 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Women’s volleyball, U.S. vs. Russia; men’s basketball, Lithuania vs. Yugoslavia; women’s soccer, gold-medal match, U.S. vs. Norway.

CNBC

* 5-9 p.m.: Boxing semifinals; men’s tennis, singles gold medal match; wrestling.