100 trees have been planted in the Garden of Nations by volunteers.
The Garden of Nations is a theme garden in the Olympic village, which will accommodate the great and good from the world of sport during the Athens Olympics.
Doubtless this will make up for the forests of wood used in the manufacture of the brochures, pamphlets and other assorted media literature that have been disseminated around the world publicising the Olympics.
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Friday, May 07, 2004
Reports are coming in that Didier Gailhaguet, the head of France's figure skating federation, has resigned.
During the winter Games in 2002, at Salt Lake City, Gailhaguet was accused by French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne of putting undue pressure on her to vote in favour of a Russian pair. This caused Canada to miss out on the gold medal. She later retracted the accusation.
The reasons for Gailhaguet's resignation have not been clarified.
Whoever said that sport was meant to be about "fair play"?
In other news, it seems that the official website of the Olympic Games is having a little trouble with its geography.
It seems that for whatever bizarre geopolitical reasons, that only the organisers of the Olympic Games could tie themselves up with, Jerusalem is not listed as Israel's capital city on the website.
The name of the capital city is, according to the website, (*).
The footnote, at the bottom of the webpage, helpfully directs the geographically challenged to the UN website for further information regarding the capital of Israel.
To make matters worse, a while ago the website had 'Jerusalem' as the capital of 'Palestine', while Israel's capital slot was left empty.
There were, not surprisingly, a series of complaints from all and sundry.
The Olympic officials running the site decided that, in order to avoid being "controversial", they would simply avoid answering the question and refer it to the UN.
Needless to say, this little spat will run and run.
The Olympics is not about sporting excellence, in the spirit of friendly competition between nations; it is about the imposition of individual nation state's cultural values and views on others.
The strongest wins; to the detriment of the others, and to the ideal of sporting achievement and co-operation.
During the winter Games in 2002, at Salt Lake City, Gailhaguet was accused by French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne of putting undue pressure on her to vote in favour of a Russian pair. This caused Canada to miss out on the gold medal. She later retracted the accusation.
The reasons for Gailhaguet's resignation have not been clarified.
Whoever said that sport was meant to be about "fair play"?
In other news, it seems that the official website of the Olympic Games is having a little trouble with its geography.
It seems that for whatever bizarre geopolitical reasons, that only the organisers of the Olympic Games could tie themselves up with, Jerusalem is not listed as Israel's capital city on the website.
The name of the capital city is, according to the website, (*).
The footnote, at the bottom of the webpage, helpfully directs the geographically challenged to the UN website for further information regarding the capital of Israel.
To make matters worse, a while ago the website had 'Jerusalem' as the capital of 'Palestine', while Israel's capital slot was left empty.
There were, not surprisingly, a series of complaints from all and sundry.
The Olympic officials running the site decided that, in order to avoid being "controversial", they would simply avoid answering the question and refer it to the UN.
Needless to say, this little spat will run and run.
The Olympics is not about sporting excellence, in the spirit of friendly competition between nations; it is about the imposition of individual nation state's cultural values and views on others.
The strongest wins; to the detriment of the others, and to the ideal of sporting achievement and co-operation.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, stated yesterday that the Olympics would go ahead despite the bombings.
He added, cryptically, "Of course we keep these things under review".
Blair remains confident that the arrangements being put in place by the Greek authorities will provide a safe environment for the athletes.
That's alright then isn't it?
He added, cryptically, "Of course we keep these things under review".
Blair remains confident that the arrangements being put in place by the Greek authorities will provide a safe environment for the athletes.
That's alright then isn't it?
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
100 Days to Go
There are now 100 days to go until the start of the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens.
This milestone has been greeted this morning by three bombs, exploding outside a police station in Athens.
In other news, the construction of the Olympic stadium roof seems to be off schedule. The roof, billed as Greece's greatest architectural triumph since the Parthenon, is meant to resemble the ribcage of a whale.
However, it seems that the deadline of 20th of May will not be met.
Should that deadline, set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), be missed; then the construction work will be halted, and the stadium will be left exposed to the August sunshine of Athens.
This will be neither pleasant for the athletes, or the spectators.
There are now 100 days to go until the start of the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens.
This milestone has been greeted this morning by three bombs, exploding outside a police station in Athens.
In other news, the construction of the Olympic stadium roof seems to be off schedule. The roof, billed as Greece's greatest architectural triumph since the Parthenon, is meant to resemble the ribcage of a whale.
However, it seems that the deadline of 20th of May will not be met.
Should that deadline, set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), be missed; then the construction work will be halted, and the stadium will be left exposed to the August sunshine of Athens.
This will be neither pleasant for the athletes, or the spectators.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
I understand that 4.5M copies of printed material, weighing 55 tonnes, have been mailed in connection with the Olympic games.
This use of natural resources seems, in my view, to sit a little uncomfortably with the environmental policy of the Olympics namely; "respecting the original landscape and using natural resources rationally".
This use of natural resources seems, in my view, to sit a little uncomfortably with the environmental policy of the Olympics namely; "respecting the original landscape and using natural resources rationally".
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