(ATR) The mayor of Athens during the 2004 Olympics tells Around the Rings that Greece could have been more careful in how it prepared.
Dora Bakoyannis was elected mayor of Athens shortly before the 2004 Games, as government leaders and Olympic organizers launched a furious venue construction program after falling behind in early preparations.
Eight years after the Games, venues constructed for more than a half dozen sports are abandoned, absent a legacy.
"Of course we would do things differently, on a much lesser scale," Bakoyannnis tells ATR.
At the same time she says that as far as hosting the Olympics, "we would do it again".
"Many venues were too big. But now these are an investment opportunity, Helenikon for example," she says, referring to the former airport south of the city where basketball, slalom canoe, hockey, baseball and softball were held. Today, the site is silent, ringed by a fence, the waters of the Mediterranean Sea across the street.
"Of course, there is a future. We are talking about the Mediterranean. This is the most beautiful and the last part of the north Mediterranean where investment can be done.
"If you look at the coast, Helenikon is the biggest property where investment can be done."
Bakoyannis is critical of the $1 billion that was spent in Greece to prepare for the Games. She says she would have handled that sum differently, too.
"What I have said for years now is the security issue is a budget which must be shared, between the IOC and the government."
Bakoyannis left the mayor’s post after the Games to become foreign minister for Greece. Currently, she serves as a member of parliament for the New Democracy party. She rejoined in May in the interest of national unity after being expelled two years ago when she formed a new party.
"We may have lost the glow of the Olympics but not the benefits," she says.
"We lost the glow because of this difficult situation," she says about the economic distress that has wracked Greece for some time.
"But knowing we did it in Athens in 2004, I know Greece will emerge from this crisis stronger than before," she says.
Politics is part of her DNA. Her father was prime minister of Greece and her first husband, a member of parliament, was assassinated by the notorious October 17 terrorist group that was smashed before the Games. She was Minister of Culture just prior to becoming mayor. A possible prime minister one day, Bakoyannis says she has no interest in returning to City Hall.
"Mayor? No, I never go back to where I was".
Bakoyannis spoke to ATR in Dubai, where she was a panelist for the Emerging Host Cities conference organized by the Dubai Sports Council.
Written and reported in Dubai by Ed Hula
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