Athens waiting to Exhale

“There is a certain amount of apprehension going into the Olympics but we have a smile on our face after the football,” said Antonis Panoutsos, television anchorman for the soccer tournament that gave national pride such a fillip.

After constant buffeting by bad news over Olympic construction delays, security concerns, budget overruns and profiteering since its bid succeeded in 1997, fatalism still rules.

“We are like the British. Greece takes pleasure in disaster. We love to be the worst or best. We don’t want to be anything in between,” he told Reuters with the opening of the Olympics less than a week a way.

Greece has always battled to live up to the glories of its ancient past.

Being the cradle of western civilisation, democracy, maths and physics is a tough act to follow. Winning Euro 2004 may not rank with ancient triumphs but for 10 million Greeks in their homeland and another seven million dotted around the world, it was a chance, briefly, to quell their collective paranoia. This year’s Eurovision song contest was a classic example of that.

Greek pop star Sakis Rouvas landed third place but endless theories abounded on why he lost to Ukraine’s Ruslana. Who on the national voting juries for the annual pop kitsch contest was plotting against Greece?

“That was a typical Greek reaction,” said Panoutsos. “We can convince ourselves there is a conspiracy.”

Explaining the outburst of joy from the Greek diaspora that greeted Greece’s 1-0 defeat of Portugal in the Euro 2004 final, Panoutsos said: “They feel like defending themselves and their values so they wait for an event that will give them pride.”

Hyperbole — yet another Greek word — certainly reigned supreme.

“It’s the most important thing we’ve done since Alexander the Great conquered the world,” said Vancouver-based Greek-Canadian Nick Kambas of July’s soccer triumph.

And Anastase Maragos, president of the harbour city’s Hellenic Community, proudly boasted to The Vancouver Sun: “It’s always great to be Greek but this summer it’s going to be even more fun.” (Reuters)