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August 15, 2014

2004 Athens Olympics: Tragedy for Greece?

  • The new subway and airport have improved life in Athens but most of the sports venues are padlocked, emblems of pointless waste in an economic depression.
    • By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
    Associated Press

    ATHENS, Greece — In an obscure corner of a park sits a forlorn reminder that, 10 years ago, Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics. The crumbling miniature theater is inscribed with the words “glory, wealth, wisdom, victory, triumph, hero, labor” — and it is where visiting Olympic officials planted an olive sapling that would bear their names for posterity.

    Once a symbol of pomp, the marble theater is now an emblem of pointless waste in a venture that left a mixed legacy: a brand-new subway, airport and other vital infrastructure that significantly improved everyday life in a city of 4 million, set against scores of decrepit sports venues built in a mad rush to meet deadlines — with little thought for post-Olympic use.


     
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