Greece is posting hundreds of armed guards on all trains and at railway junctions and fuel depots as part of its security plans for the Games. The country’s armed forces will also protect tunnels and railway installations. About 1,000 soldiers will be assigned to the project and 45,000 armed guards will be deployed in Athens during the Games.
The International Olympic Committee is considering a recommendation to allow athletes who change their gender to compete in future Games. But there will be a three-point check list to ensure that such athletes, particularly males who change to female, do not have a physical advantage. It is suggested the athletes should have their gonads removed, be on hormonal medication for at least two years, and have a medical certificate confirming their new status.
Greece is cracking down on hotels offering unsafe, low-standard and overpriced rooms to tourists visiting the Games. Officials will check hotels routinely and not allow them to operate unless they have a fire safety certificate. About 90 per cent of Athens’ hotel rooms have been booked by Games organizers at fixed rates, with the rest left for visitors.
Preparations for the Games Opening Ceremony have been leaked and it seems a pool of water may appear at the centre of the main Olympic stadium during the ceremony. Private Mega television reported Tuesday that water will be pumped into the central field of the stadium but no other details were available. Last week the Associated Press obtained documents that describe the Olympic flame’s cauldron as a “spindle-shaped” structure 100 feet long and five feet at its maximum diameter, adding that the main structure will be connected to the base by a hinge suggesting it could move.
Because there won’t be a temporary roof over the swimming pool, air conditioned tents will protect swimmers from the fierce August head. But finals for the swimming events have been moved back 30 minute to 7:30 p.m. to avoid shadows on the exposed pool surface during the television coverage. Organizers will also provide TV’s in the tents to allow coaches and swimmers to watch the competition without having to sit at the pool. There are also discussions to have the tents extended to help provide shade for reporters who would have difficulty using computers screens in the bright light, but so far organizers have resisted the idea.
There’s hope that there will be soccer at the Athens Games. Dick Pound, head of Anti-Doping, met with FIFA president Sepp Blatter and said he was confident the world soccer body would finally sign the anti-doping code allowing soccer to take part in the Games. A meeting between the two and IOC President Jacques Rogge to settle the issue is scheduled in Paris on Friday. FIFA is the only major Olympic federation along with the International Cycling Union to refuse to signs WADA’s anti-doping code because it imposes an automatic ban of two years for doping offences. All international federations have until the opening ceremony of the Games to sign the code.
