2004 Olympics: Top Stories

02:11 AM CDT on Monday, August 9, 2004

By CATHY HARASTA / The Dallas Morning News

ATHENS, Greece – Critics have had a field day assailing the Athens Olympics and their organizers. Indeed, the Games that open Friday suffered for years because of the Greeks' self-professed tendency to procrastinate and the organizing committee's fits and starts.

Committee infighting, construction delays, labor unrest and a new government in March caused anxieties inside and beyond Greek borders. The city of about 4 million is notorious for traffic congestion.

But with the Games about to begin, officials declare that the venues are ready and that every possible step has been taken to try to secure the first Summer Games since the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Here are some key questions leading up to the Games:

So much has been made of security aspects of the Games. What kind of assurances do the athletes and visitors have that enough has been done?

Money alone can make no guarantees, but the estimated cost of securing the Games is $1.5 billion and rising. That is more than four times what security cost Sydney in 2000. NATO and more than 71,000 police and military personnel will be on hand as 202 nations assemble. An alliance of seven nations, including the United States, has committed to the cause. Extensive training exercises have helped to acquaint personnel with logistics. Still, some key venues and an important 47-station, 26-kilometer tram system were finished so recently that not many operational or security drills could be conducted.

High-profile track athletes, including five-time Sydney Games medalist Marion Jones, will compete under a cloud of questions and allegations concerning performance-enhancing drugs. The BALCO steroid probe has consumed much of the buildup to the Games. What will Athens organizers do in the way of drug testing?

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said organizers expect to test at least 4,000 of the 10,500 athletes. Though no test for human growth hormone is known to exist, representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the IOC and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said they will take blood samples from Olympic athletes and preserve the samples to analyze when a peer-approved test is available. Athens organizers pledged that drug test results will be known within 36 hours.

Aside from security concerns and the doping cloud, why have ticket sales been so slow?

Not even half of the 5.3 million tickets were sold as August approached. Poor marketing by Greek officials and the fact Athens will be expensive for tourists have contributed to the apathy. Greece's location also could make it a less than ideal destination, as the nation is close to troubled regions. Last-minute ticket purchases are possible, however, and would be in keeping with the wait-until-the-last-minute motif that has characterized the Games' preparations.

How will spectators know that Athens ran out of time before it could do the final polishing and cosmetic upgrades?

Huge flags and banners will disguise eyesores and unfinished business.

With landmarks such as the Acropolis and Greece's history as the Olympic birthplace, can the Athens Games miss being among the greatest?

Olympic organizers generally equate the challenging task of putting on an Olympics to running a marathon. When Athens hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896, not many were picking Greece's Spiridon Louis to win the marathon. Well, he did win, and Athens is counting again on the spirit of Spiridon Louis.

What's new?

Women's wrestling will make its Olympic debut. Rogge's intent to downsize the Games has made it hard for new sports to join the Olympic program.

For Olympic fans in the United States, name an athlete and a sport that will be truly worth watching.

Swimmer Michael Phelps of Baltimore aims to match or eclipse the record seven gold medals won in a single Games by Mark Spitz in 1972. The U.S. gymnasts, shut out of the medals in Sydney, could win a bunch of medals.

E-mail charasta@dallasnews.com