The Athens Olympics: Doping, Politics, and Idealism

The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens were a much-hyped event since 1996 when Athens was chosen as the venue. After the celebrations ended, the realities confronting Greek hosts and planners emerged. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) hoped to use the Athens Games as an opportunity to present itself as a reformed, scandal-free zone. That was not to be. Planners in Athens promised rigorous security measures, but despite substantial NATO support, that too was not to be. The ambition was that the Games would focus on sport rather than on tangential issues of doping and external political forces. In the established tradition of the Olympics, none of these ambitions were transformed to reality.

'One Toke Over the Line?'

In response to previous doping scandals, the IOC made great show of its required random and mandatory drugs testing of competitors, but this system was drawn to criticism before the first matches were played. As if that were not debacle enough, the targets of the incidence were Greece's two leading sprinters. The sprinters failed to appear for their initial doping tests. Their excuse was that they were involved in a quite mysterious and unreported motorcycle accident in which neither sprinter was injured. The IOC then had to decide whether to allow the sprinters to compete without the drugs test, thereby setting precedence for other athletes, or to disqualify the sprinters from competing. The IOC determined the sprinters should be disqualified, and the sprinters took the matter to on-site arbitration. Before the arbitration could occur, several other athletes failed their doping tests and were disqualified from competition. In one instance an awarded medal was withdrawn and given to the next-ranking team. The two Greek sprinters finally withdrew voluntarily from competition - much to the dissatisfaction of the Greek team.

'Olympic Insecurity'

It is well-documented that Athens was prepared somewhat inadequately to tend to securiity matters. NATO offered aerial support, but the ground details were not organized until six weeks before the Games began. The last-minute mad dash to hire and train personnel and the fact that so many tickets remained available to the public made the security situation almost beyond control. The security breaches were apparent as early as the opening ceremony at which approximately only one of every nine attendees was searched, and reports suggest that officially forbidden items such as coolers, glass containers, and backpacks are brought to events without question or inspection. In response to this lack of security, some participant states such as Britain are housing their teams at their training facilities in Cyprus and are transporting them to Athens for specific competitions then returning them to Cyprus rather than using the Olympic Village facilities. Athens had eight years to plan these security details; the Olympics are a leading target for terrorist activity. The lack of coordination is perplexing and inexplicable.

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