Remember that Greek spending spree?

Greek Financial Crisis: Did 2004 Athens Olympics Spark Problems In Greece?

Excerpt:

When it comes to overspending, Greece gets the gold medal.

Governments in the Greek capital of Athens haven't balanced a budget in nearly 40 years, and the country narrowly averted bankruptcy in May before panicky European partners grudgingly put up massive rescue loans.

While many factors are behind the crippling debt crisis, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens has drawn particular attention.

If not the sole reason for this nation's financial mess, some point to the games as at least an illustration of what's gone wrong in Greece.

Their argument starts with more than a dozen Olympic venues – now vacant, fenced off and patrolled by private security guards. Stella Alfieri, an outspoken anti-Games campaigner, says they marked the start of Greece's irresponsible spending binge.

"I feel vindicated, but it's tragic for the country ... They exploited feelings of pride in the Greek people, and people profited from that," said Alfieri, a former member of parliament from a small left-wing party. "Money was totally squandered in a thoughtless way."

The 2004 Athens Olympics cost nearly $11 billion by current exchange rates, double the initial budget. And that figure that does not include major infrastructure projects rushed to completion at inflated costs. In the months before the games, construction crews worked around the clock, using floodlights to keep the work going at night.

In addition, the tab for security alone was more than $1.2 billion.

Six years later, more than half of Athens' Olympic sites are barely used or empty. The long list of mothballed facilities includes a baseball diamond, a massive man-made canoe and kayak course, and arenas built for unglamorous sports such as table tennis, field hockey and judo.

Comment: And remember that stupid mascot! (Images)

Olympic mascot a lamprey eel?

London Olympics 2012: Meet Wenlock and Mandeville, drips off the old block

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Wenlock and Mandeville, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic mascots, elicited mostly baffled reactions as to just what they were at their unveiling today.

With a metallic finish, a single large eye made out of a camera lens, a London taxi light on their heads and the Olympic rings represented as friendship bracelets on their wrists, they resemble characters dreamed up for a Pixar animation.

But London 2012 organisers, for whom the launch of the mascots marks the start of a crucial period in which the games will become public property, pointed to the delighted reaction of a hall full of primary school children at today's launch as evidence that they would connect with their target audience.

"They remind you of aliens, which is really weird and cool," said 10-year-old Ali.

Comment: Postmodern mascots!

Lamprey