The Associated Press (AP) reports that as a precaution, American track and field athletes might be discouraged from wearing red, white and blue or anything with “USA” when they are not competing at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
U.S. men’s track coach George Williams said, “for security reasons, if that’s the way they want to go, that’s what we’ll do”.
Williams said the topic of apparel in Athens was discussed during last week’s USA Track and Field annual meeting.
USA Track and Field spokeswoman Jill Geer said Monday that “off-track uniform issues are governed by the U.S. Olympic Committee”.
Williams said track officials have suggested ways to lower the profile of American athletes around Athens. “They said it would be good if we low-keyed it”. But he added, “some of us are going to look American. We’re going to have our Bermuda shorts on and our white tennis shoes. It’s going to be hard to do”.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 members of the police, fire department and coast guard marched in uniform Tuesday to demand hazard pay and benefits before next summer’s Games.
They demanded hazard benefits, which include a small monthly bonus and a full pension awarded to families of officers killed in the line of duty.
It will cost more than $750 million to pay for more than 40,000 police, soldiers and other security personnel to help protect the Athens Games.
Also, more than 120 protesters gathered near the Olympic weightlifting venue during test events Tuesday, demanding the government keep promises to upgrade the area.
