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| Friday, 13 August 2004 |
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Spectacular opening ceremony Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Greece ATHENS, Thursday - The XXV111th edition of the summer Olympiad will be unveiled with a spectacular opening ceremony in this historic city tomorrow (13). The Olympic fever is at its best as the Games returns to its birthplace. It was way back in 1896 that the Greek capital gave birth to the modern Olympic Games and then celebrated its centenary in Atlanta in 1996. The Greeks are feeing the heat of the Games and are feeling proud as the greatest sporting extravaganza returns to Athens, 108 years after its inception. The Games organizers have kept the composition of Friday's grand opening ceremony a secret, obviously to keep the spectators guessing. A record number of television audience from all corners of the globe are expected to view the spectacular opening ceremony which is due to commence at 7.30 pm local time, 10.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time. The opening ceremony is expected to be a mixture of the modern techniques and the historic values of the Games. Definitely, the Greeks would have several eye catching items, depicting the rich ancient Greek culture. Though there has not been high local demand for Games tickets early this year, the Greeks are gradually showing an interest to be a part of the mega event. Everywhere in the capital, there is mad Olympic fever and the citizens show keen interest to be associated with the Games in whatever way they could, be it a participant, volunteer, spectator, service person or even security assistants. The organizers are taking no risk for the opening ceremony and tight security prevails all over the country as several world leaders, international sports organization top officials and VVIPs have arrived here to witness the grand fiesta. Among them will be Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who arrived in Athens last evening. He wished good luck to Sri Lankan contingent. The Premier said it is a great opportunity to our sportsmen and women to compete along with the best in the world today. He asked them to make the best use of the opportunity given. Shooter Pushpamali Ramanayake, the first Sri Lankan to be seen in action here, will fire in the qualifying round of the women's 10m air rifle event scheduled for 9 a.m (12 noon Sri Lanka time) on Friday. There are a total of 64 women taking part in this event which should have close final scores. The women to watch will be Indian Suma Shirur, China's Li Du, Korean Sun Hwa Seo, Austrian Monika Haselsberger and Russian Lioubov Galkina, all of whom who have topped 400 marks. Ramanayake has only a qualification score of 392. "It is a tough assignment. But I will make every effort to get a good score. If I attempt my personal best, I should be in a very good position," said Ramanayake on the eve of her pet event. She spent over two hours at the practice range today under the watchful eyes of her coach Colonel Pasan Kularatne. Meanwhile, hosts Greece held South Korea to an exciting two-all draw in their men's first round group 'A' soccer tournament match played at Thessaloniki last night. The European champions were trailing 0-1 at half time but staged a magnificent come back to score twice through Loukas Vyntry and Ioannia Taralidis within the space of 14 minutes. But a penalty goal in the 82nd minute enabled Asian heavyweights Korea to draw the game. In another preliminary round pool 'C' match, Argentina had a smashing six goals to nil win over Serb/Montenegro after leading 4-0 at half time. |
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