Saturday, July 24, 2004
Organizers are putting the finishing touches on the main Olympic complex.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The unfinished construction of dust-choked venues stood as a symbol of Athens' troubling Olympic delays a few months ago.
Now the last touches are being made on the main Olympic complex. The stadium roof rises like a giant oyster shell. The grounds feature pools of water that shimmer in the night.
At the end of a three-year construction blitz, Olympic organizers are finally silencing the critics. Nearly all venues are ready for the Aug. 13 opening ceremony or very close to completion.
Athens, it appears, has beaten the clock.
But at a price.
Delays have left almost no time to test and troubleshoot vital security equipment. Projects to spruce up the city have been scaled back or cut. The unfinished work will be hidden behind huge banners. Ribbons and flags will be used to try to divert attention from the sidewalks that were never smoothed out or the dreary concrete buildings that didn't get fresh paint.
Smiling with relief
Still, organizers are doing something they haven't done in a long time: smiling with relief.
"This venue -- that did not look like a sport facility some time ago -- not only looks like a facility now, [it] is something that will remain in history," said Spyros Capralos, the government's general secretary for sport, while visiting the complex.
Work continues at the nearby aquatic center, where a sun-shielding roof was called off because of delays.
The rest of the complex, which includes venues for tennis, cycling, gymnastics and basketball, is mostly finished.
But the whole area will probably be buzzing until the last possible day as workers plant trees and finish off cosmetic touches.
The work will mark a final, sweaty farewell to one of the most anxious periods for the International Olympic Committee, which was so worried about delays four years ago that the games were in danger of being moved.
"Greeks united. When we have goals, we achieve them," said Fani Palli-Petralia, the deputy culture minister in charge of Olympic preparations.
Security efforts
Across Athens, security teams are in the process of "locking down" other Olympic sites -- meaning that all areas are searched and closed off to all but authorized personnel.
Venues sealed and ready for the games include those that will host outdoor volleyball, boxing, pentathlon, badminton, shooting, weightlifting, judo, wrestling, taekwondo, rowing and equestrian, according to Culture Ministry officials.
The others are in various states of final work.
The seaside Hellenikon sports complex -- on the site of Athens' former airport -- is being fitted with wiring and other systems needed for the games.
The area will host baseball, softball, field hockey, basketball, handball, fencing and canoe and kayak slalom.
Down the coast at the Peace and Friendship stadium for volleyball, landscaping and road work should be finished by the end of the month.
Landscaping and parking-lot construction are also on a round-the-clock schedule at the nearby Karaeskaki stadium, which will host the soccer tournament.
Marathon route
One of the biggest question marks -- the marathon route -- is close to completion.
Crews could wrap up the road-widening project from the ancient village of Marathon as early as Monday, organizers said.
The project, however, was so behind schedule that planners abandoned the planned roadside enhancements, such as reducing garish business signs and planting more trees.
The end of the marathon, at the marble stadium used for the first modern games in 1896, is still not finished.
Earlier this month, crews tore up the plaza in front of the stadium to replace the marble slabs, leading the Kathimerini newspaper to ask the question on many minds: "Why is this happening now?" The stadium will also host archery.
The Olympic village, which will house 16,000 athletes and officials, will open its doors July 30.
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