It will be hot, hot, hot at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games. David Martin, an Australian sports scientist, says that the Athens 2004 has the potential to be the hottest Games in the last 50 years of the Olympic Games. Martin is one of 34 scientists in the physiology department at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) working on devising new cooling methods ahead of the 2004 Games. According to AFP Martin is testing athletes’ warm-up routines to determine how they need to be adapted to suit what are expected to be extreme conditions in Athens during the Games.
Meanwhile, Afghani athletes at the Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be supplied with sports wear and modern equipment by Adidas. The plan has the financial backing of the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee, which will also facilitate the donation. The clothing will have the words “Hellenic Aid” and the Greek flag printed on it in bright blue.
There was the potential of counterfeit money being circulated during the Athens 2004 Games. Greek and Cypriot police have broken up an Athens-based gang that used the most sophisticated printing setups ever found in Greece to produce thousands of fake dollar bills. The suspects had floated their counterfeit $1 bills in Cyprus and Greece and were planning to flood Athens with forged currency during the Games.
With all the sophisticated and expensive security planning for the Athens Games, a report says that one low-cost but potentially potent resource is being overlooked – the eyes and ears of the public. Some neighbours near Olympic venues say they haven’t been contacted by security forces, despite appeals from counterterrorism officials for a watchdog program and the prominent role it played in the 2002 Salt Lake Games.
