Heroine of the 2004 Summer Olympics

Aug 29, 2004 Athens: The Olympics came home, and we’ve shown the world the great things Greeks can do!

Jul 10, 2000 Athens: For Athens, the decathlon is more than a 10-event competition. It's the Greek capital's race to resolve 10 severe snags to staging the 2004 Olympic Games. "Three years of dillydallying is enough," huffs one International Olympic Committee vice chairman. "No more delays or excuses. Athens has to put its mess in order."

The warning, topped by the I.O.C.'s branding of Athens as "the worst organizational crisis in 20 years," has seen Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who is credited with putting the country's faltering finances in order, step in to try to do the same with the Olympics. Simitis has begun refereeing seven ministers squabbling over multibillion dollar planning works. Heeding I.O.C. advice, he also drafted Gianna Angelopoulos- Daskalaki, who led Athens' winning bid in 1997. Appointed to head the troubled Athens Organizing Committee (ATHOC), Angelopoulos, a 44-year-old lawyer, took the job on condition that she be given a free hand in forcing through reforms.

[ Time Europe ]