Great Fun But It's Time Olympics Were Over, Athenians Say

ATHENS, Aug 29 (AFP) - Pride, mixed with large doses of relief, was the prevalent sentiment among Athenians as they said farewell to the Olympics on Sunday.
"The Games were a very pleasant experience, a real celebration and we enjoyed it a lot. But it's about time they finished," said Sterjos Chatzistergiou, an employee with Greece's electricity utility PPC, sipping his coffee in downtown Athens on the Games' final day.
The Olympics dominated Athenians' daily lives for months.
Tens of thousands had to stay home in the traditional holiday month of August to organise them, from hospital workers to policemen. Car traffic was severely restricted to ease transport routes for athletes, officials, journalists and tourists.
"I had a lot of trouble, especially moving around in the city because of the construction ahead of the Games. But in the end it was worth it for everybody," said Nikos Floros, a private employee.
"A lot of construction was done, the city was transformed for the better," he said.
"We won the challenge and we're happy we proved wrong all those who had said we wouldn't manage it," said Rirchardos Someritis, a columnist with Greek daily To Vima.
"The Games were successful, the country got the promotion it wanted. We were worried the Games could backfire on the Greece's image if they had been a failure," said a doctor who did not want to be named.
"Did the Games makee sense financially - I don't know - it's the economists that need to tell us," he added.
Greece spent at least seven billion euros (8.7 billion dollars) on the Games -- 1.2 billion euros alone on security.
Many Greeks felt the Games were never a potential target of an extremist attack and believed the related expenditure was only meant to allay security fears of the countries involved in the Iraq war.
"Among the negatives of the Games was their cost... much of which was spent on security measures imposed upon us from abroad," said Christos Pasalaris, a columnist with the conservative Eleftheros Typos.
But Someritis disagreed. "Security fears were not a paranoia, we live in difficult times," he told AFP.
"The measures weren't exaggerated -- the same were taken in the European football championships in Portugal, but the reporting about them in the media was. It was so shrill, particularly in the US, that it scared off many people," Someritis said.
Greek Sunday newspapers agreed the Games were successful, on balance. Organisation, transport, and security were the Olympics' strong suit, they reported. Empty seats in many competitions were regarded as the Games' biggest drawback.
But the Greek party was indelibly spoiled by the doping scandals surrounding the hosts team. Greece's national heroes, Kostadinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou, were forced to withdraw from the Olympics for failing to show up at a doping test.
Two days later, weightlifting bronze medallist Leonidas Sampanis, was stripped of his medal after failing a drugs test.
"It was like a black stain on the Games," said Alexandros Katsantonis, another columnist at Eleftheros Typos.