When Greece took up the challenge of hosting the 28th edition of the Olympic Games, and indeed succeeded in offering the world a spectacular opening ceremony, it proved that small nations are also capable of hosting grand events. Shamel Shehab reports from the Greek capital The stunning opening ceremony that took place last Friday in front of more than 40 heads of state, 80,000 spectators in the stands, and hundreds of millions of TV viewers, was proof that when nations unite, the impossible can become possible. The success of the opening ceremony, and indeed of the entire 2004 Games in Athens thus far, comes as a surprise to many critics and skeptics who had slammed the historic nation over the course of the past year. Greece was described as disorganised, behind schedule, and at times it was even insinuated that it would lose the privilege of hosting the 2004 Games. But to the Greeks themselves, Friday's grand opening comes as absolutely no surprise. That is apparent whenever you talk to a local. Instantly, you recognise the will, the determination, the perseverance of the people. A Greek dentist, Yani Mikhalides, attending the opening ceremony, described the successful curtain-raiser as a testimony to the unity of the Greek people who vowed seven years ago, when Athens was awarded the honour of playing host to the 28th Olympics, to bring the event to an "unprecedented success." Mikhalides explained that since the announcement of Athens as the host nation, the organisation of the Games became a Greek quest -- to prove to the European community that they weren't a small country unable to accomplish what "they", the big ones, can do. The Greek clinching of the Euro football Cup a month earlier, for the first time in their history, only enhanced that enthusiasm and drive. "That unprecedented victory had given them more confidence and desire towards a successful Olympic Games event," Mikhalides said. "Why not make it twice in a year? These two days are the most significant in Greece's sports history and I believe will remain so for a long time." Demitirs Kalistsantis, an engineer with the Greek company Aktor responsible for 30 per cent of the preparation for Athens 2004, shared Mikhalide's view. He told the UAE news agency that "accepting the challenge required that Greece should appear in the best shape and form in infrastructure, transportation, communications, hotels, sports facilities and even the people's attitudes. The Greek people considered themselves soldiers during the Olympics -- soldiers servicing their country." Aktor is one of the largest construction companies in Greece, with a capital of $1 billion. The company was responsible for the renovations of the Olympic stadium, the Olympic ring, and building the greatest "hanging wall" in the world for the 25,000 square metre stadium. The wall, described as a masterpiece, was designed by a Spanish architect and took 15 months to build. Aktor was also responsible for constructing one of the greatest Olympic villages in history, west of the capital, with a budget of 240 million euros. The village is currently playing host to 16,000 athletes from all over the world. The Games, however, come as a much greater plan for the development of the city. Kalistsantis said the Greek government had allocated four billion euros seven years ago for the development of Athens as part of an entire plan. The infrastructure development of the country -- the underground trains and tunnels -- were implemented in cooperation between the national and private sectors in the country. They are considered part of a long- term resurrection plan. "It has opened lots of doors towards more investments especially in foreign currency," Kalistanantis said of the future impact of the preparations for the Games. It wasn't all smooth sailing, however. The success came at a price. "We faced lots of problems and obstacles with several authorities like the environment and the antiquities," he continued. "Our disputes took us to court because they banned us from digging deep in the lands for metro stations. We were delayed because we had to wait for the court's verdict which finally was in our favour. "Then came the digging problems. There were historical cities and monuments underground. They were collected and sent to museums for safekeeping." Indeed, just like Egypt hoped to host the World Cup for the sake of the national economy, the Greeks are rejoicing at what fortunes the Games will bring. It comes to help soften the blow of changing from drachmas to euros, a shift which locals were not quite thrilled about. That burden of a Euro-driven economy pegged to much higher prices and first world standards, may soon be a thing of the past for the Greeks. Their nation, it seems, has completed that cycle of history. And once again, it stands were it did 4,000 years ago -- at the top of the world.
