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Antenna: News in English (AM), 97-07-31Antenna Radio News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.grNews in English, 31/07/97TITLES
ATHENS'97/MEAS.-ATHLETESAthens has gotten a quite a face lift in preparation for the 6th World Track and Field Championships which will be kicked off this Friday.Athen's slogan, "Welcoming the World" suggests that's exactly what they are doing. From improvements in and around the Olympic Stadium to the mobilization of police officers for security reasons to the refreshing lack of traffic. The new image makes the capitol quite unusual for most Athenians. Most of Athenians, especially those who live downtown, feel as if they are waking up in a different city! The lack of traffic jams, partially due to the first wave of holiday makers who have already left on vacation and the presence of Policemen, plain clothed or in uniform wherever one looks, are all playing their part in preparation for the upcoming World Athletic Championships. There are so many policemen on hand covering the 10 day event, you may even find them where you least expect it! But...the police officers are not alone. Several four-legged specially trained companions are lending shall we say...a paw in helping to protect the city from any unforseen unfortunate event. While outside the stadium all central hotels, the international airport as well as all thoroughfares are being monitored. Inside the Olympic Stadium something much more exciting is happening. Officials from the organizing committee of "Athens 97", are not taking any chances and have propelled full speed ahead with preparations and improvements around the Olympic Stadium in time for the upcoming 10 day event. Hundreds of policemen are stationed outside the stadium admitting access only to accredited personnel and journalists. Only trucks carrying food products or supplies are admitted beyond the main gate. Vasiliki Papantonopoulou, international relations manager for 'Athens 97' says that the organizing committee has been very busy with changes around the stadium, from new electrical wiring to state of the art telecommunications. One of the changes to the stadium includes replacing many of the 80,000 seats. Papantonopoulou says that only 52,800 seats will be made available to spectators, with the remainder being allotted to the more than 2800 accredited journalists, TV stations and photographers from around the world covering the event. Other changes include new turf being installed for the running track, the construction of a high-tech press centre as well as the conversion of the basketball center as a warm up area for the athletes. The Olympic Stadium will also sport a small shopping village inside. "The Market Street" will include shops, a Greek Taverna, fast food restaurant, ouzeries and beer bars, cafes and newspapers stands along with various souvenir shops. Concerts, theatrical plays and traditional Greek celebrations will also be staged for young people. Within the confines of the stadium, a Central Health Unit will be available to all athletes, their delegates, journalists and spectators. The clinic will be fully equipped with the latest technology and will have on hand 450 fully trained staff. ATHLETES ARRIVALWith Athens having done its homework in preparation for the International Athletics Championship 10 day event, one record has already been broken BEFORE the beginning of the games. 199 countries are PARTICIPATING in the Championships, WHICH is a world record attendance. 197 participated in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.That means foreign athletes are continuing to arrive at the Athens International Airport, while. Greek athletes at home are busily preparing themselves. Here's a look at how MANY are spending their time with the big event just around the corner. One can easily see world track-and-field stars walking and relaxing in parks located around the city, only a few days before the great competition. Other athletes preferred to stay in their hotels, engaging in press conferences and or interviews, to the numerous TV channels here covering the event. In celebration of the upcoming games, Sports minister Andreas FOUras held a reception in honour of the Greek national track-and-field team Wednesday night. New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis was on hand wishing Greek athletes success in the games. And, coming as a pleasant surprise, World champion's sprinter HAris Papa- diAs and javelin thrower Kostas Gat-siOU-dis WILL participate in the championships both hoping for a gold. ATHENS'97/KARAGEORGIOUIt seems all stops have been PULLED on the upcoming Track and field championships. Giorgos Karageorgiou, one of Greece's BEST known directors, will be behind the driver's seat, taking complete coverage of the upcoming events which will be watched by over three billion viewers.Internationally known, Karageorgiou's expertise is in covering athletic events. When asked what is the biggest difficulty a director faces covering a world championship, Karageorgiou explains, "To choose which sport you're going to show everytime. That's the most difficult thing to do. You don't know if you must interrupt showing the 3 thousand meter race, to show the javelin or the long jump". Adding that,"The best reward for me would be to receive congratulations from my peers in foreign television stations. KAKLAMANAKISShining Wind-surfing Olympic gold winner, Nikos Kaklamanakis who started his trip through the Aegean from Sounio Wednesday.Ka-kla-ma-nA-kis' ambitious goal to windsurf from Sounio to Crete is a symbolic gesture supporting Athen's bid to host the 2004 Olympics. Before sailing from Sounio, the olympic Gold winner told reporters, "In addition to my dream as a child to travel alone in the Aegean. My ultimate goal is to promote Greece, its picturesque islands and beautiful seas. And, more importantly, to send the message that Greece CAN and DESERVES to host the 2004 Olympics." Kaklamanakis's FIRST stop was the island of Santorini. On the outset strong winds helped him. But towards the end he made quite an effort to reach the island due to low winds. On Thursday morning, he will sail for the city of IrAklio, in Crete. He is accompanied by a naval frigate. The Wind-surfing Olympic gold winner will cover a total distance of 200 nautical miles. DOLLARIn an effort to curb inflation due to the upward climb of the American dollar, the Greek Government has decided to reduce a special tax imposed on gasoline prices Wednesday.The government decision came right after the Public Oil Company announced an increase in the prices of diesel and gasoline. The reduction will be valid from August 31st to September 30th. According to the decision, a maximum price in gas will be fixed for all gas stations in Greece, except for Athens and Thessaloniki. Following up with the decision, development deputy minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis sent a circular to all prefectures and market police services requesting them to closely control the sale of fuel at gas stations. DEFENCEWith the recent acquisition of F-16's by the Greek Airforce. The Greek armed forces in an agreement reached on Wednesday will be modernizing 39 of their F-4 phantom jets.Defence minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos said the governmental defence council decided which of the two bidding companies would get the contract. The German firm DAssa, which was the lowest bidder was chosen. The other bidding firm was American Boeing. The defence council also discussed whether or not to restructure Greece's armed forces. The defence ministry is considering abolishing large army formations, in favor of replacing them with smaller, faster units. The modernization of the 39 F-4 Phantom fighter jets is expected to be completed by the year 2000. SOLANANato secretary general Xavier SolAna expressed his hope, Wednesday, that the ongoing Cyprus issue will finally be resolved next year.Cypriot president Glafcos ClirEEdis and Turkish- Cypriot leader Raouf Denktash are scheduled to have their second meeting this week at the residence of UN special mediator Gustav Feyssel in Cyprus's neutral zone Thursday. Feyssel, estimates that the second meeting could positively influence the atmosphere of the second round of bilateral talks to be held in Switzerland in August. NDPublic sector union workers want to change some key points in the Greek constitution.Representatives from (ADEDY) A-the-thEE, the public sector worker's union discussed those proposals with Ioannis VarvitsiOtis, New Democracy vice- president. VarvitsiOtis who holds the chairmanship which examines changes to the constitution, said that most of Union's proposals are already included in New Democracy's proposal changes. Adding that there are still certain POINTS which need to be clarified. One of those points is the proposal to consolidate the so-called "collective conventions" signed between unionists and the government. At present the collective conventions are not covered by the constitution. They deal with yearly salary increases. SKLIVAIrini Skliva, Miss World 1996, is in Crete these days.The beautiful girl next door who got her start by winning the Miss Hellas award at last year's pageant organised by Antenna, visited Greece's biggest southernmost island to help promote Greek tourism in Crete. During her stay in Crete she visited local officials and the Greek Tourism Organization offices. Local officials showed their gratitude to Ms. Skliva by presenting her with a book on the history of the island as well as popular sight seeing locations. TOURISM INTERVIEWAll during this week we have been bringing you excerpts from an exclusive interview by Antenna's Nancy Biska, from Nikos Skou-lAs, the general secretary of the Greek National Tourism Organization.Today, in part three we look into the campaign world of the national tourist organization, focusing on the many different sides of Greece. © ANT1 Radio 1997Antenna Radio News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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