Totally unexpected, Athens put on a show that would have surely made the gods proud and happy
AS the gods of Ancient Greece watched from the magnificent Acropolis, the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad finally came to a spectacular end last week. Following more than two weeks of sporting drama, the Greeks and their guests finally let loose on the streets of Athens for an all night out on the town. And watching them go, were thousands of security personnel who too, had kept a silent yet careful eye on the proceedings since August 13.
Showcasing its ancient glory alongside its modern cityscape, Athens hosted the 2004 Olympics far better than anyone’s greatest expectations. The Games, that was preceded by massive cost overruns, blown construction deadlines and dire predictions about the possibility of terrorism, came together at the end, making it one of the most successful Olympics ever. Even the dreaded ticket sales topped at $3.55 million, overtaking the sales made in Seoul and Barcelona.
But the best part was that the spirit of peace and friendship prevailed, as there was no incident of terrorism despite predictions and fears.
One hundred and eight years after the first modern Olympiad was played at the home of the ancient Olympics, the world saw 17 days of charged emotions and drama as athletes followed the ancient footsteps of a doomed distance runner from Marathon, or collected medals in arenas once roamed by Greek heroes.
Fireworks and fascinating folk dances as well as music brought the Games to a close on Sunday last. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee called these the “unforgettable, dream games”, and he told the Greek people: “You have won, by brilliantly meeting the tough challenge of holding the games.”
As always there were many tears of joy and agony shed by athletes and fans alike. Controversy marked the very start of the Games when Greek sprint stars and Sydney’s 200-meter champion, Kostas Kenteris and his training partner, 100-meter silver medalist Katerina Thanou, upset their nation by skipping a drug test and then being involved in a suspicious motorcycle crash. The Greeks decided to withdraw the two from their Olympic team. But the home crowd and their fans had their say when they booed and jeered at the start of the 200-meters final. A Kenteris-less final was the last thing they wanted and subsequently the race experienced two bad starts before getting off at all. All three podium places were secured by American athletes.
But this wasn’t the only time when American athletes were booed upon. Anti-American sentiments, due to the conflict in Iraq prevailed throughout the Games, no doubt giving a tough time to the US athletes who are used to being cheered as leaders of the Olympics medal tally. Protests also led to the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell cancelling his visit to the Games at the last minute.
However, the Americans did top the Athens medal chart with 103 medals (35 gold, 39 silver, 29 bronze). What is more, they were drug-free and well-behaved. They dominated the track, collecting 24 medals and ruled the Olympic pool too, winning 12 golds and 28 medals. There, swam the US’ most brilliant star, Michael Phelps who equalled the record of Mark Spitz with eight medals — six gold, two bronze in the first eight days of the games. Among the other Americans who were dominating in their events were softball pitcher Finch and sprinter Justin Gatlin, soccer’s Heather O’Reilly and hoopster Diana Taurasi, boxer Andre Ward and gymnast Carly Patterson — all gold medalists.
But the US fans had to deal with the disappointment of the failiure of their track star Marion Jones who couldn’t repeat the fame of Sydney, where she picked up five medals. Jones was soundly beaten in the long jump, and was then involved in a botched pass of the baton in the 400-meter relay that led to the disqualification of the American team.
There were many cases of athletes narrowly missing victory by a twist of fate. Russian gymnastics star Svetlana Khorkina hit the dust when she fell off the uneven bars in her speciality event. Brazil’s Vanderlei Lima, leading in the marathon and just three miles away from victory, was pushed off the track by an intruder from the crowd. Badly shaken, Lima, however, recovered enough to make it to the third place. South Korean Yang Tae-young was scored improperly, costing him a gold medal that went to American Paul Hamm. Three gymnastics judges were suspended after this incident and there was dissatisfaction over the scoring of other events too.
Twenty-four athletes — including seven medalists — were expelled or withdrawn for drug violations, which is double the previous highest number of 12 in Los Angeles in 1984. The last gold medalist stripped of his medal was Ben Johnson in Seoul in 1988. This time there were three — Russian shot put champion Irina Korzhanenko for testing positive for stanozolol and Hungarians, discus thrower Robert Fazekas and hammer thrower Annus, for refusing to give urine samples. Despite this, the IOC president Rogge considered each positive test a blessing as it means “eliminating the cheats and protecting the clean athletes”.
We too in Pakistan had our share of athletes failing doping tests ahead of the Olympics when three weightlifters and a top boxer tested positive for banned substances. Nauman Karim, who was declared Asia’s best boxer earlier this year, tested positive in a doping test after the SAF Games in April and was banned for a year. Weightlifters Alam Din Kakar, Hasan Aslam Khan and Akbar Ali, all gold medalists at the SAF Games, tested positive for anabolic steroids in April. Not surprisingly, the Pakistan Olympic squad came back without a medal as the hockey team could only manage a fifth place.
Despite devoting Channel 3 to the coverage of the Athens 2004 Games, PTV disappointed their fans by not giving their customary daily highlights of the Games each night in their regular broadcast. For most people it is difficult to stay glued to their TV sets all day to watch records being broken, thus the highlights used to provide a short and easy way to witness history being made at the Olympics. Acknowledging the fact that Athens is behind us in the time zone, such a programme the next day would have sufficed. One hopes that next time in Beijing, the people at PTV will do a better job.
Totally unexpected, Athens put on a show that would have surely made the gods proud and happy
