Builders of Athens Olympics Struggle to the Finish Line
Preparations for the summer Olympic Games in Greece, set to begin Aug. 13, are so late that the prime minister took personal responsibility for their timely completion just after winning this months elections. Last-minute construction is most critical at the crowning main stadium in Athens. Even with nonstop work, its 304-meter-span arching roof will be ready only weeks before the globally televised opening ceremony is set to take place under its cover.
After meeting Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, said recently "there is still time for the preparation if all energies are mobilized." At the stadium, nobody doubts the urgency. "Can you imagine an Olympic Games with the steel structure unfinished on top of the stadium?" says Leonidas Kikiras, project coordinator for the stadium complexs architect, Santiago Calatrava. "Its a nightmare."