The countdown to the Olympics has ended, and the Games have at last returned to their nation of origin Celebrated coach THE COACH who led Greece to a stunning victory in the European Football Cup of Nations was cheered by thousands as he crossed a massive new suspension bridge with the flame that will burn at the Athens Games. Otto Rehhagel carried the Olympic flame across part of the Rio-Antirrio Bridge joining the southern Peloponnese region to the Greek mainland. The 67-year-old German coach, still enjoying hero status in Greece since he led the national team to victory last month in Portugal, said he was "honoured and overjoyed" to join the relay that has carried the flame on an around-the-world trip. Rehhagel was joined in the relay by members of the Greek Olympic soccer team, as well as officials involved in the bridge's construction. Greece's soccer victory has been credited with lifting the nation's spirits as the Olympics approach. Lost luggage CHAMPION pole vaulter Dmitri Markov may be forced to compete with an unfamiliar pole after his own went missing en route from his home in Australia. The three airlines that Markov used have been unable to trace the pole since he arrived in Europe two weeks ago. The 2001 world champion, Markov already has had to use a different pole for a number of competitions since his arrival. "I hope that it can be found or he can find a good replacement," said John Coates, president of the Australian Olympic Committee. Markov has said that the loss of his pole would be a tough obstacle to overcome for him. Road rules A ROAD safety guidebook has been distributed to Olympic accredited drivers after several vehicles got into road accidents. Special Olympic lanes came into operation on 1 August. The lanes are meant to ensure the quick transportation of media and the Olympic Family -- which includes sponsors and International Olympic Committee members. Since then, police said, there have been five accidents, with one woman seriously injured when a vehicle hit her. "The measures of the Olympic lanes were put into effect recently," said Seraphim Kotrotsos, an Athens 2004 spokesman. "People need time to adapt." Authorities will withdraw licenses from drivers caught exceeding the speed limit and impose hefty fines on those who break the law. Youngest German DIVER Nora Subschinski figures that if she makes a mistake, her German teammates will understand -- after all, she's the youngest member of the bunch. At 16, Subschinski is the youngest German competing in any sport at the Olympics, and she's 11 years younger than her synchronised diving partner, Annett Gamm. But if anything, she admits, that's an advantage for her. "It doesn't make me nervous," Subschinski. "I think that since I'm still young, nobody will be upset with me if I mess up, therefore I'm going to the games totally relaxed." Subschinski said Gamm has been a great help, using her experience to help Subschinski overcome any stage fright. "She always calms me down before every competition with words like 'You can do it,' or 'You'll make it'," she said. The youngest competitor at the Athens Games is Bryan Nickson Lomas, a 14-year-old diver from Malaysia. Iraqi airlift THE ROYAL Australian Air Force airlifted the Iraqi Olympic team out of Baghdad on Sunday, starting the 48-member team on its way to the Athens Games. Australian officials said the team was flown out from Baghdad's international airport aboard a C- 130 Hercules aircraft. The team was flown to meet connecting flights into Athens. The games open Friday. "Australia supports the Iraqi people in their quest for a brighter future," Defense Minister Robert Hill and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a joint statement. "This assistance will enable a very special group of athletes to achieve their dreams of competing in the greatest sporting event of the modern era." Jones winning back MARION JONES won both the long jump and the 4x100m relay in Munich in her first competitive action for three weeks. Jones, who is under investigation by the US Anti- Doping Agency despite never having failed a drugs test, helped the USA beat France and Germany. She jumped 6.82m to win the long jump and was part of the 4x100m US relay team that won in 41.37 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year. Jones will compete in the long jump in Athens and could feature in the relay. The 28-year-old jumped 7.11m to win at the US Olympic trials but has not competed in any event since coming last in the 200m trials on 17 July. She dropped out of a meeting in London late last month and was refused invitations to two other European events. Jones has been accused by her ex-husband, CJ Hunter, of using banned drugs before, during and after the 2000 Sydney Olympics. But she has not been charged by USADA and has denied using performance-enhancing drugs. Condi's confident NATIONAL security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that Greek authorities have done everything in their power to assure a safe and secure Summer Games. "The government of Greece has a very difficult job, of course, in getting ready for the Olympics. But we believe that they've put enormous resources into it," Rice said on CNN's Late Edition. "They really, I think, are doing everything that they can to make this safe." At this first Summer Olympics since the 11 September terrorist attacks, Greece is spending a record $1.5 billion on security. About 70,000 police and soldiers will be involved in protecting the games. Papal wish AMID security concerns at the Olympics, Pope John Paul II expressed his ardent wish Sunday that the upcoming Athens Games provide a venue for peace, not violence. The pontiff, addressing pilgrims gathered at his Castel Gandolfo summer residence in the hills outside Rome, also sent his warm wishes to all those participating in the games and to the people of the Greek capital. "I hope with all my heart that in this world, which is today troubled and at times very upset by so many forms of hatred and violence, the important sporting event of the games produces an occasion of calm meeting and works to promote understanding and peace among peoples," the pope said. "On the Olympics and on the entire world of sport, I invoke the motherly protection of the most Holy Virgin."
