12 August 2004	Thursday	25 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

ATHENS, Aug 11: A seven-year marathon to prepare Athens for the greatest sporting show on earth - the Olympic Games - was nearing completion Wednesday as an unprecedented security blanket smothered the Greek capital.

Tens of thousands of athletes, officials and media have descended on Athens for the 17-day sporting extravaganza, which opens Friday under the shadow of the ancient Acropolis and will close on Aug 29.

The contrast from the first modern Olympics held 108 years ago in Greece, the original birthplace of the ancient festival, could not be starker. The 1896 Games saw around 250 athletes representing 11 nations taking part at a total cost estimated at US$500,000 in today's prices.

But on Friday a mammoth 10,000 athletes representing 202 countries will march together to begin just over a fortnight of competition that is costing a record-breaking US$7.2 billion to stage.

A large chunk of that budget - US$1.5 billion - is to be spent on a security operation that will make the 2004 Olympics the most tightly guarded sporting event in history.

"We've created an environment which is hostile to any threat. What we have done is huge, but an absolute guarantee does not exist," a high-ranking security official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

A total of 100,000 security personnel, or 10 for every athlete, will be on duty at the games, a massive show of strength aimed at deterring terrorists. NATO has provided AWACS aircraft which began combing airspace around Athens on Tuesday while a massive Swiss-built zeppelin equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment has hovered over the city since July 23.

The United States Sixth Fleet and gunboats from Turkey and Italy meanwhile have been entrusted with defending the waters surrounding Greece. In addition to Olympic athletes, officials and spectators, Greece will welcome some 70 heads of state and royalty during the Games, including Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and former US president George Bush, who arrived in northern Greece on Tuesday.

While the unparalleled security is the most visible legacy of the September 11 attacks, other less obvious imprints will be seen in the myriad sports arenas. Afghanistan will be welcomed back into the Olympic fold after being kicked out during the reign of the Taliban regime, which was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001 following Al-Qaeda's strikes on the United States.

The Taliban's ban on female participation in sport was behind the IOC's decision to suspend Afghanistan - but women's 100m entrant Robina Muqimar is likely to be carrying the country's flag in Friday's opening ceremony.

Afghanistan's flag will flutter proudly alongside the colours of East Timor for the duration of the Olympics. East Timor only gained independence two years ago since splitting from Indonesia in 1999.

Political overtones will also be seen by the South and North Korean teams marching together at Friday's opening ceremony. The two teams will carry the same flag in a display of unity between the two nations which remain technically at war.

South Korean officials said Wednesday they hoped the gesture would lead to the participation of a unified Korean team at the 2008 Olympics. "We would like to have one team at the Beijing Olympics although so far we have not agreed anything," Shin said. "We will try our best to have one team at the next Olympics in 2008."

While games organisers are hoping nations will abide by an Olympic truce during the sporting festival, they have made no secret of their determination to wage war on doping cheats.

The blue riband sport of athletics has been rocked by a doping scandal over the past year that has embroiled some of the biggest names in the sport, including the world's fastest man Tim Montgomery and his girlfriend Marion Jones, a three-time gold medallist in Sydney.

Montgomery failed to make the United States team but Jones will be in Greece, competing in the long jump. Jones suffered a further setback on Wednesday when she saw her slim hopes of defending her 100m title finally dashed when it became clear that Gail Devers will compete in the event should world 100m champion Torri Edwards be suspended for testing positive for a stimulant.

Though athletics doping scandal has tarnished the sport, IOC President Jacques Rogge said the rash of drugs cases was a positive development. " ... this is an encouraging sign that the fight against doping is gaining ground and that it is becoming increasingly hard to cheat," said Rogge, who will stay in the athletes village for the duration of the games.

Evidence that the IOC's hardline was working came late Tuesday when Kenyan boxer David Munyasi became the first athlete to be thrown out of the games after testing positive for a banned stimulant.

With athletics battling a drug scandal, the focus of sporting interest over the next two weeks could well be in the swimming pool, where American prodigy Michael Phelps will attempt to equal Mark Spitz's seven golds from 1972. -Agencies