Greeks are counting on this kind of a blend of ancient history and modern Olympics to make a lasting impression on the world when it hosts 17 days of competition set to start Aug. 13.

Residents in Athens, the birthplace of the modern games, also hope that a culturally rich Olympics will make everyone forget the chaos that preceded the event. Greece faces a Herculean task if it is to finish preparations for the EUR 5.5 billion games in time. After years of delays, almost everything is running behind.

Much work ahead
Denis Oswald, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) chief inspector for Athens, told a gathering of 500 delegates from the national Olympic committee on Feb. 26 that much work is still needed for Athens to be ready to stage the Olympic Games in August.

" Less than six months before the games there is still a lot to do," Oswald said. "When you drive around the venues you will realize there is till a lot to do but we are confident the remaining time will be fully used when you come back to Greece in August you will find everything ready."

The biggest race and concern is to finish a landmark glass and steel roof over the main Olympic stadium, one designed by Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava. Other projects causing concern are completing a new 20-mile (32 km) suburban railway that would also run to Athens’ new airport, and a 15-mile tramway system that would connect central Athens to the sea.

Greece, one of the smallest countries to host the Olympics has faced serious problems organizing the games. Preparations fell far behind schedule in their early years because of political infighting.

Just three years ago, (IOC) officials told bickering organizers and Greek government officials to get their act together or risk losing the games.

" In the beginning, preparation was a bit chaotic and difficult until Athens Games Chief Gianna Angelopoulos took over," Oswald said.

Working around the clock
Construction crews are working around the clock to transform a hanger at the city’s old international airport into a suitable venue for the basketball preliminaries and to have the historic Karaiskaki Stadium ready by June 2004 for the Olympic football matches.

Greek officials also announced recently that they will not be able to build a roof over the main swimming Olympic outdoor pool as originally planned. Plans to extend the marathon race route have also stalled because the company in charge of parts of the project ran into financial problems.

Oswald singled out Greece’s famed archaeological heritage as the main problem for the delay in construction.

" As soon as you dig you find interesting pieces of stone, all construction work is then stopped to preserve the unearthed antiquities," he said.

Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, the government official in charge of the Olympics, acknowledged that Greece’s preparations have faced "many hesitations, objections, rumors, ambiguous points, public controversies, environmental and archaeological problems in different Olympic sites."

Even if construction is completed on time, there are other issues plaguing organizers. Finding accommodation for the large number of spectators remains an acute problem, as does transportation.

On an average day the city’s nightmarish traffic conditions are a recipe for disaster. During the games, when an army of athletes, journalists and spectators need round-the-clock transportation to and from venues, it will be worse.

Security concerns
The IOC has acknowledged that unlike other Olympic cities, the extra security burden placed on Athens organizers, resulting from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States is one of the reasons for Greece’s uphill struggle. The fear of terrorism is all the more accute following the March attacks in Madrid.

" It is not an easy task to organize Games after Sept. 11. We are now confronted with international terrorism," IOC President Jacques Rogge.

Greece is spending a record EUR 650 million on security for the Games and has already said it will mobilize about 50,000 police and security staff, in addition to military personnel, three times more that at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Athens is currently a construction nightmare due preparations for the Olympics

To counter a possible terrorist threat, Greek officials are coordinating their security preparations with a seven nation advisory group that includes Britain, Israel, Australia, Russia, France, Germany, Spain and the United States.

" For us the security of the greatest event in the world is the first priority and the first duty of our country," said Venizelos.

Greece has also requested assistance from dozens of countries as well as foreign military and security organizations, including Europol, Interpol and NATO.

Special commando units
Public Order Minister George Floridis said the country’s security infrastructure, intelligence and technology were all being updated for the games and that special arrangements would be in place for national teams wishing to be accompanied by their own security staff.

The country’s Olympic plans include the widespread use of surveillance cameras, special commando units and fencing around all venues.

" We understand that countries for their own reasons want to take additional measures. It is understood that Israel and the United States have such problems," he said.

Both Australia and the United States, whose basketball team will for the first time since 1992 stay at the Olympic village instead of a hotel, have already said they will use their own security in August.

The Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Center

" We are preparing for two sorts of threats," Floridis told the daily Haaretz in a recent interview. He cited "targeted threats by terror organizations against national delegates – for example a Chechen threat to the Russian delegation or a Palestinian threat to Israel – and a comprehensive threat to the delegations and the Games that originates with al Qaeda." Greek authorities are not the only ones worried about security for the games. In a recent nationwide poll, more than half of Greeks saw security as a major problem and only 22 percent thought everything would go smoothly during the during the Olympic games.

Many Athenians also worry that they will end up being stuck with a huge bill at the end.

" Many people do not see the benefit of a two-week event that a poor country like Greece cannot afford," said Greek graduate student Manuella Mangos.

Aside from the EUR 4.21 billion the government has allotted the games, the organizing committee has a EUR 1.4 billion budget to run the games and the city of Athens has borrowed another EUR 112 million for new sidewalks and the painting of old buildings.

Many commentators insist that the regular visits paid by IOC officials, escorted by all sorts of business groups has put an unbearable burden on state coffers, demanding extra and costly services, usually in areas that interest their sponsors.

Greek Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis has argued that the Olympic games will have positive repercussions on the Greek economy and that the Olympic projects will remain. Others, meanwhile, worry about what will become of the infrastructure once the crowds have gone home."The government has build a plethora of high-cost venues to host sports events that are not popular in this country and which, in effect, will be rendered useless when the games are over. How are these venues to be maintained? Most likely, they will be swallowing millions of euros as they fall into ruin," said a report in the Greek daily Kathimerini.