Games close with a flourish

A total of 10,500 athletes took part in the most expensive, most security-conscious Olympic Games in history.

The theme of tonight’s Closing Ceremony was a celebration of humanity, filled with Greek song and dance and as anyone knows who has been island-hopping in this part of the world that’s what the Greeks tend to do best.

It took 100 man hours to plant the 45,000 individually planted stalks of wheat and somehow that was testament to the colossal and desperate scramble to get Athens 2004 ready on time.

As is traditional at the end of the Olympics the athletes marched into the stadium without distinction of nationality as Athens prepared to hand over to Beijing 2008.

More than 230,000 balloons were released, fireworks lit up the Athenian sky and the strains of ‘Zorba the Greek,’ Athens’ equivalent of ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi,’ filled the air for what seemed like the millionth time this fortnight.

And while IOC president Jacques Rogge fell short of describing the Games as “the best ever,” which also has become something of a tradition, he was fulsome in his praise of an Olympics whose challenge was not just to put on a festival of sport but to contend with the uncertainties of a dangerous world and the scourge of cheating.

The menace was brought home in a dramatic moment during the men’s marathon shortly before tonight’s ceremony began when Irishman Cornelius Horan, who ran down Hangar Straight at Silverstone during the Grand Prix wearing a priest’s habit, burst on to the course to barge the then-leader, Brazil’s Vanderlei de Lima, off the road.

Thankfully, de Lima was unhurt but, concentration broken, he finished third behind gold medallist Italy’s Stefano Baldini. They received their medals from Rogge mid-way through the closing ceremony, Lima receiving a special ‘De Coubertin’ award for fair play for the phlegmatic manner in which he handled the incident.

“These Games were held in peace and brotherhood,” said Rogge. “They were the Games where it became increasingly difficult to cheat and where clean athletes were better protected.

“You the athletes have touched our hearts by your performances and your tears. These Games were unforgettable, dream Games.

“Athletes, you are role models. When you get home promote the message of the Games and above all promote clean sport. Give back to sport what sport has given to you.”

And there standing next to him with a smile which has remained as bright as the incessant sunshine here this past fortnight was Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the first lady of the Athens Olympics, who won the Games for Greece and then came back to rescue them when it seemed they would never be ready.

It seems a distant memory now since contingency plans were in place to switch the Games to Sydney, so delayed was the construction work on the main stadia and so real appeared the terrorist threat.

Angelopoulos-Daskalaki beat the deadlines by days, rather than weeks, and it is true that much of the cosmetic finishing touches, especially around the walkways of the Olympic park itself, left much to be desired.

But, despite the absence of shrubs and trees and the presence of dusty, unfinished areas, she made it and the Greeks have embraced the ideal.

True, there was criticism over empty seats, especially in the first week of competition. But Athens sold more tickets than Seoul or Barcelona, it hit its revenue target of 3.5million and if the enthusiasm level never reached the fervent scale of Sydney then the latest poll here shows that 90 per cent of Greeks are happy they hosted the Games.

No wonder. The city has been transformed. There is a new airport, new roads, new rail and tram system and revamped underground complete with air-conditioning. Athens will benefit for years to come.

The Games even survived the missed drugs test saga which saw Greece’s two most famous athletes Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou suspended.

Despite a sense of injustice among some spectators, which manifested itself in a hissing, whistling protest before and during the 200m final, the event in which Kenteris was Olympic champion, there was also a realisation among the majority of Greeks that the suspensions were part of the committed ‘Clean Games’ policy which sought to take the Olympics back to its original ideals.

The value of the sense of pride and esteem generated by the Games is incalculable, even if that is something London and its 2012 bid appear to be struggling to get through to the capital’s taxpayers.

But if Athens, with its second world status, can do it then just imagine the Olympics London could deliver if its heart and soul were in the project.

The Olympic transport lanes worked wonderfully well here, though any potential gridlock was alleviated also because so many locals left town for the duration of the Games.

The competition had its moments of brilliance, none more so than in the swimming pool with the mercurial Ian Thorpe and America’s six-gold teenaged superstar Michael Phelps.

And Britain can be proud of its nine-gold tally, not as many as the 11 in Sydney but all forged with style and grit.

Indeed, in Matthew Pinsent’s fourth successive gold medal and Kelly Holmes’ 800m gold and 1500m double the Brits had contenders for the most magical moments of the entire Games.

And so Rogge declared the Games of the 28th Olympiad closed with a thank you to Athens and “See you in Beijing four years from now.”

A fanfare sounded, the Olympic flame was extinguished and while the Olympic anthem was played the Olympic flag was slowly lowered from the flagpole, unfurled horizontally and carried out of the stadium.

Athens 2004, the Games which saw the Olympics returned to its spiritual home, was but a memory.

Remarkably, considering all its trials and troubles, a warm and treasured one.