(Backstage: German TV studio in the International Broadcasting Center just near the Athens Olympic Stadium, August 2004)The city of Marathon, 42 km northeast of the Athens city center is highly proud of the coming Summer Olympics. Here lies the start of the fabled “Marathon route”, here the Greeks held their very first “test events” for the Olympics, here the Japanese celebrated the legendary Marathon victory of Masato Yanaharo, who, in 1999, won the exhausting 42 km – race after a fantastic sprint, just three seconds ahead of his Greek competitor.
But in 2004 Greek officials have their own “Marathon route” to manage : Major public works are still in progress with only 15 weeks to go, crucial transport projects ( including a new Tram line to the southern Athens suburbs ) are delayed. Bad weather conditions may put the heavy work schedule in jeopardy.
Good road connections to many sport venues are under construction. Not to mention the (still missing…) “state of the art” Olympic Stadium roof – structure, designed by the famous Spanish architect Sandiago Calatrava. It was supposed to become the status symbol of a futuristic Olympic City, but its construction started later than originally planed and is now put at risk, due to alleged “problems of ground stability”. Which is quite surprising, for calculations relating to static equilibrium are usually made before and not months after construction work starts.
Be that as it be, Athenians still feel unshakably optimistic about finishing the job on “schedule”, with style and élan ! And not only that : Today they are even happy about the progress made so far ! Only a few years ago, words like “deadlines” and “results” were quite unknown for the Greek public sector. Infrastructure projects of great importance were postponed for decades.
But now, Greek taxpayers at last see some first results !
Since 2001 Athens has a modern airport, built by a German company, which will also run the facilities for the next 20 years. New metro lines connect 22 central locations in downtown Athens ; some of the new Metro – stations look like art galleries ! Only in the very first 100 days after opening, over 25 millions passengers used the newtransport network, which is now unceasingly expanding in the Athens Metropolitan Area.
Athens, so far admittedly not one of the most attractive tourist destinations worldwide, offers today a better tourism infrastructure, brand – new conference facilities, as well as accommodation facilities for up to 120.000 visitors. Who, from now on, can visit and even “experience” a new sight, perhaps the most romantic one in downtown Athens : a sophisticated, beautifully designed network of pedestrian zones connecting all major ancient monuments, old districts and green spots of the city center. The Athenians and their visitors can enjoy their long walk or their ice cold coffee in the sun, taking a look at the Acropolis or at the Sunday flee market.
( Published in the "Official Journal of the European Commission in Japan", Spring 2004 - Ρεπορτάζ για το επίσημο περιοδικό της Ε.Ε. στην Ιαπωνία, ΄Ανοιξη του 2004 )
