 Gianna Angelopoulos, head of the Athens 2004 Olympic Organising Committee (ATHOC) vowed here on Tuesday that the Games would be a huge success, despite the pressure to be ready in time.
"We will have a unique human Games, a unique Greek Games. Athens can do it. It is the ideal stage," said Angelopoulos after giving an update to the IOC executive board.
"It is clear that significant progress has been made in all areas," she added. But Angelopoulos admitted that time remained critical.
"We have to strengthen our efforts even more. We do not have a single day to waste," she said. Denis Oswald, head of the IOC's co-ordination commission for the Games said he was much more positive than he was only three months ago. However, he warned that his commission would continue to put pressure on ATHOC.
"We cannot lose any days. It is a race against the clock. Therefore we feel it necessary to keep on the pressure. But in the past few weeks Athens had reached a cruising speed which is satisfactory and if there are no major problems everything will be ready for the Games," said Oswald.
Earlier the executive board approved four ATHOC programmes - the Athens Games budget which is balanced at 1.96 billion euros, ticketing, the daily competition schedule is almost identical to that in Sydney, and the torch relay programme.
Athens plan to have the touch carried to all five continents and most of the cities that have previously hosted the Games.
The mascot for the 2004 Games is to go on display next January but it must first be approved by IOC president Jacques Rogge and Oswald. (Agencies) | 雅典2004年奧運會組委會主席詹納·安耶洛普洛斯近日表示盡管2004年雅典奧運會籌備工作中壓力重重，但是雅典一定會取得巨大成功。 在向國際奧委會執行委員會做了雅典奧運會籌備工作的最新動態報告后，安耶洛普洛斯說："我們要將這屆奧運會舉辦成一次獨一無二的人類體育盛會，一次獨一無二的希臘體育盛會。雅典能夠做到。這是我們的奮斗目標。" 她又補充說："目前各方面工作都進展地十分順利。"但是安耶洛普洛斯承認籌備時間相當緊迫。 她說："我們還需要加倍努力，我們要充分利用每一天的時間。" 國際奧委會協調委員會主席澤尼斯·奧斯瓦爾德說，近三個月來雅典籌備工作的進展讓他對這屆奧運會信心大增。 奧斯瓦爾德同時還"警告"說，協調委員會還將繼續"敦促"雅典奧委會做好各方面工作。 奧斯瓦爾德說："我們一點時間都不能浪費，我們這是在和時間賽跑，所以壓力是必不可少的。但是在過去的幾周時間中，雅典的工作進展速度十分令人滿意，如果沒有其他的大問題出現，2004年雅典奧運會很快就可以一切準備就緒了。" 早些時候國際奧委會協調委員會通過了雅典奧委會提交的四項提案：雅典奧運會財政預算（19.6億歐元的收支平衡）；有關門票收入的計劃；每日的賽程安排幾乎同悉尼奧運會相同；以及火炬接力方案。 雅典奧委會計劃讓奧運圣火傳遍五大洲，傳遍大部分已經舉辦過奧運會的城市。 2004年雅典奧運會的吉祥物將于明年1月與大家見面，但是這個吉祥物首先要得到國際奧委會主席雅克·羅格以及奧斯瓦爾德的認可。 (中國日報網站譯) |
Updated: 2001-12-16 01:00
