- The Observer,
- Sunday April 21 2002
As murky as their preparations for the 2004 Olympics may be, the Greeks are making one thing very clear: they loath Phèvos and Athenà, the cartoon mascots that will symbolise the world's most cherished sporting event when the games return to Athens.
In the two weeks since the ungainly duo were unveiled, Hellenes have lambasted them as an outrageous affront to the nation's cultural heritage. Although inspired by a seventh century BC terracotta figurine and given ancient Greek names - Phèvos is another name for Apollo the god of music and light, and Athenà the goddess of wisdom - the smiling, bell-shaped twin siblings have been denounced for being decidedly un-Greek. Even worse, they have unbecoming torsos, huge, flat feet - and four toes, in the style of the four-fingered Simpsons.
'If we see these things at the opening ceremony, it will be a national catastrophe,' snarled filmmaker Yiannis Smaragdis. 'No matter how much I try to be positive, they just seem to be so very tasteless,' lamented popular Athenian actress Dina Konsta. Informal polls have shown that 75 per cent of the population agree.
The mascots' creator, little-known Greek artist Spyros Gogos, had hoped the brother and sister images would represent all the values encompassed by the Olympic ideal: the brotherhood of man, equality of the sexes, and as fun-loving children, participation in the games irrespective of victory. No other mascot to date, the Games' organisers declared, had managed so successfully to marry the past with the present. In Phèvos and Athenà, the world had two gods in human form to represent the ultimate in human competition.
'The 2004 Olympic mascots are unique,' Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the Games' president said somewhat defensively. 'They have a long history, as well as a modern face.'
The furore adds to the woes surrounding Athens 2004. Since winning its bid for the Olympics in 1997, Athens has been savagely criticised for the chaotic way it has prepared for them.
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said Greece would need 'to run a marathon at a sprinter's pace' if it wanted to put on a problem-free Games.
Delays in the construction of key sports venues, including the Olympic village, have frayed nerves. Refurbishment of the main stadium is so behind schedule there will be no time for test events. Foot-dragging on infrastructure projects, such as vital bridges and roads, has led to several works being cancelled.
This month, Denis Oswald, the IOC's top inspector for Athens 2004, said the lack of suitable hotels in the Greek capital 'and chaotic plans to build new ones' was particularly worrying.
Plans to host visitors in cruise liners berthed in the port of Piraeus would not solve the problem, he said. There were not only security concerns but the worry of people being trapped in Athens' notorious traffic jams.
Fears of the Games being marred by a terrorist strike have increased dramatically since 11 September. As the home of November 17, the terrorist group who murdered British defence attaché, Brigadier Stephen Saunders in June 2000, Greece is viewed as Europe's 'soft underbelly'.
'Security and transport will be a concern till the end' groaned Oswald. As will in-fighting between the different ministeries and agencies handling the Games. 'We can't seem to agree on anything,' sighed one Olympics official.
Phèvos and Athenà, Greece's maligned mascots, would surely agree.
