By Alaa Abdel-Ghani It had become customary -- at the end of almost every Olympics, the president of the International Olympic Committee proclaims the Games "the greatest ever". At the closing ceremony in Athens, Jacques Rogge did not stick to the script. Instead he said: "You have won." Not quite what Athenians wanted to hear but not bad either considering what Rogge had to say -- probable expletives included -- just a few weeks back. It is arguable if Athens 2004 was "the greatest"; certainly it was "the latest". The authorities were slow out of the blocks after being awarded the Games in 1997 and had been trying to catch up ever since. By March, the ancient city was nowhere near ready to host the Games, prompting Rogge to voice the unimaginable, that the Games might have to be delayed. Indeed, in March there were serious suggestions the Games would go to South Korea. Athens was staring at an international humiliation. It never came to that, but because it was so rare for an IOC president to raise doubts about the success of an Olympics so close to the opening date, Athens became galvanised. It turned into one large construction site whose pace suddenly became frenetic. Despite a strike by two million Greek workers, a change of government and an extremely late start, the Games began on schedule, on 13 August -- even though the paint in many of the venues was still wet. Sydney 2000 had no such worries. The Australians had finished all major buildings in Sydney a year ahead of time, aware that facilities should be available well in advance for vital testing, training and security purposes. To no one's surprise, Greek Olympic preparations were so behind schedule. This being Greece, that was expected. What was surprising was that Athens 2004 not only made it on time but was astonishingly successful. Indeed, people are still scratching their heads as to how Athens pulled it off. Greek concerns were not limited to unfinished infrastructure. Security was another huge worry, for this was the first Olympics after 11 September. The eyes of the world was on Athens for 17 days, making it a very tempting target for terrorists. And Greece's track record on the subject was hardly shining. It took Greek police almost 20 years to track down 17 November, a group of middle-class anarchists. What chance did they have against Al- Qaeda? In the end, Athens was terrorism-free. Greece mobilised half its military to accomplish that feat. The calculations meant that every athlete had seven security personnel at his or her side. Like some deodorants, they provided 24-hour protection. In parallel with construction and security worries was doping. In Athens, they caught a few miscreants but how many got away with it? Of course, we'll never know. We were on our guard though. A major upset or improvement was met with instant suspicions. Rumours spread as soon as an unexpected star emerged. Any Olympics always provides plenty of incentive to cheat. Medals and the prospect of lucrative endorsements back home have seen to that. Thus, athletes are more willing to seek out an edge. The result is that in Athens, few were able to watch any athletic achievement without wondering whether the winner won because of hard work and skill or because of a good neighbourhood chemist shop. In the run-up to Athens, the problem seemed so pervasive and so resistant to efforts to curtail it that the tendency was to just resign ourselves to the fact that steroids are here to stay. Drugs might help some athletes to victory but some judges in Athens helped them lose. In perhaps the biggest dispute of the Games, which centred around the all-around, the most coveted event in gymnastics, three judges were suspended after it was determined that South Korean Yang Tae- young was scored improperly, costing him a gold medal that went to American Paul Hamm. But the IOC stopped at the suspensions, refusing outright to give Tae-young the gold medal he apparently deserved. Obviously the IOC wanted to shut the Pandora's box it opened in Salt Lake City in the Winter Olympics. Because of the dubious decisions of a skating judge, the IOC made the exceptional decision of awarding a duplicate set of gold medals to a Canadian pair after the Russian duo had been declared champions. The IOC simply did not want a repeat in Athens. Even if an athlete had a solid argument, its thinking was: if every loser, who thinks he should have won, wants a gold medal "just like the one you have", it would be sheer chaos. These would no longer be the Olympics "celebrating humanity's highest aspirations". But don't be fooled. There's plenty of room for jingoism in these Games. True, the Olympics might act as a fusion of athletes and visitors from all countries, of all colours and creeds. But let's leave naiveté at the starting line. The Olympics are also a time to remember differences, not similarities. There is good and evil in every Olympics and in Athens, which was no exception, we cheered and we jeered. Thank you Athens. You might not have been the greatest but you stuck to form, once again bringing out the full-blooded patriot in us all.
