Panic over: Athens delivers Olympic extravaganza

THE Olympic Games returned to their spiritual home yesterday in a breathtaking opening ceremony that brought the myths of Ancient Greece to life through the magic of 21st century technology.

Athens, on the verge of losing the Games four years ago because of chaotic preparations, raised the curtain on the greatest show on earth with an extraordinary flourish before a worldwide television audience of up to four billion people.

For 45 minutes, spectators in the Olympic Stadium sat hushed and open-mouthed at the celebration of life, love and one of the world’s greatest civilisations. Drums thundering out the sound of a racing heartbeat reverberated under the soaring glass wings of a futuristic oval arena that only months ago had no seats and no roof.

The stadium floor was flooded with water, creating a shimmering sea that burst into flames as the five Olympic rings were set ablaze by a pyrotechnic comet. From a centaur striding across the lake with a lance of light to Eros floating high in ethereal majesty, the show presented a living pageant of 3,000 years of human history.

In the first Summer Games since the September 11, 2001, attacks, the celebration of sporting prowess was staged under Europe’s biggest peacetime security blanket. Guards outnumber athletes by seven to one.

Protected from afar by Patriot missiles, and watched over by airships and helicopters, the ceremony featuring competitors from a record 202 countries offered the world a chance to forget its troubles for three hours.

Greeks were also looking for a distraction after a drugs drama involving two of their athletes rocked the nation. Costas Kenteris, who won gold in the 200m at the Sydney Games four years ago, and Katerina Thanou, who took silver in the women’s 100, face expulsion from the Games and a two-year ban after missing mandatory drug tests Thursday.

Kenteris had been hot favourite to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony.

However, it was a night to savour for the 10,500 athletes who came to Athens for the sheer joy of participating in the greatest extravaganza in sport.