After a disastrous beginning, the last three days of test events for the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games has received nothing but praise from foreign competitors, reports Reuters.
The cycling, show jumping, archery and canoeing test events went ahead with only minor hitches.
U.S. ambassador to Greece Thomas Miller, who visited the site of the archery test event in the marble stadium where the Olympic Games were revived in 1896 with its view of the famed Acropolis, said, “during the last two years I have been in Greece, I have seen significant progress being made in all issues regarding the 2004 Olympic Games”.
And Belgium’s Marc Vandervyvere, a four-time Tour de France competitor who was an official observer for international cycling’s ruling body UCI, had high praise for the road race course through the centre of Athens.
He said, “the course is truly wonderful and I would even say entertaining”, referring to the many historical monuments and archaeological sites on the cycling route.
Also, international show jumper Andrew Hoy, who has competed in five Olympics, said facilities at the riding course, including the crucial veterinary clinic, were “marvelous”.
An Athens Games official said, “we know we made mistakes at the start but we think we have started to come back”.
According to the Greek media, Prime Minister Costas Simitis, concerned at the negative publicity Athens 2004 has received for the early setbacks, planned to become more personally involved in preparations to end complaints that games and government officials were not cooperating as well as they should.
