US Olympic security chief in bid to allay Irish safety fears

THE US Olympic team’s head of security is to meet his Irish counterpart in a bid to ease concerns over safety at this summer’s Athens Games.

The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) have demanded assurances for the security of their athletes after three bombs were detonated in the Greek capital earlier this month.

Speaking in New York yesterday, the US Olympic Committee (USOC)’s chief security officer Larry Buendorf said that he would seek out the OCI delegation at next week’s security briefing conference in Athens and ask them to place their faith in the host country’s $1.2bn security operation.

“I had heard that an Irish delegation was in Athens at the time of the recent explosions and that they had said they were serious concerns about participating,” Mr Buendorf said.

“I’m hoping to meet the Irish security detail next week in Athens at the security briefing before the Games. I want to say to them that when the Games begin and Athens establishes its security for the Games, then the situation will be different than it is today.

“That’s because of the structure the Greeks have put in place for when the Games are on. I actually think that these groups who have been making provocative statements and threats and explosions will quite possibly go away and chill out for a little while.”

Mr Buendorf has all the credentials to speak with authority on security issues. He has overseen all USOC security needs since 1993 and before then he served with distinction for 23 years in the US Secret Service. He provided protection for US presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and received a valour award for thwarting an assassination attempt on President Ford in 1975.

Despite the fact that the Americans’ own security operation will involve flying in 100 federal agents to provide further protection and advice to the 550-strong team of US athletes, he insisted that his confidence in the security of athletes was not just confined to his own watch. He said the Athens Organising Committee had its security budget increased to $1.2billion, a four-fold increase on that spent for the Sydney Olympics. The security force on duty during the Games has been upped to 70,000 personnel, representing a 7:1 ratio of law enforcement officials to the total number of athletes.

These officers put their training o the test last week when Athens security chiefs began a four-day simulated security exercise, Olympic Guardian II, involving about 300 people, including senior American officials.

“This is not just a US thing. The Greeks recognise that they needed to put all their resources into place to get this right,” Mr Buendorf said.

“The days of not having security are gone. The days of having recognisable security are here. It’s there to bring a comfort level to the athletes and to the spectators. It’s not about locking a place down and creating a prison environment; it’s about doing it in the right way and I believe it will be done in the right way.”

He added: “There are a lot of high-profile teams coming to these Olympic Games, the Irish included. I’ve spoken to the Irish security at other Games and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to speak to them this time round. But once the Games begin I hope we can work together and form a very close relationship.”