Medal design sparks off major row

“The colosseum is a stadium of blood. It has nothing to do with the Olympic ideals of peace and brotherhood,” O Kosmos editor George Hadjivassilis said.

“We realise it is too late and too expensive to change the medals now but the mistake must never be repeated.” Greece was the home of the ancient Olympic Games.

Sydney Games organisers blamed the International Olympic Committee (IOC), saying it vetoed plans to put the city’s Opera House on the medals and instead ordered a “generic colosseum” as background.

They said the IOC advised that the traditional colosseum design they wanted should be derived from a 1928 medal by Italian sculpture Guiseppe Cassioli for the Amsterdam Games.

The officials said the design is a generic colosseum, not the famous Roman one.

But Wojciech Pietranik, who designed the Sydney medals, told The Australian newspaper he used the Roman colosseum as a model.

“It was supposed to show Nike, the goddess of victory, visiting Sydney (depicted by the Opera House) …. But there was a change because of the rules,” Pietranik told the newspaper.

The newspaper quoted Australian history professors as saying the Sydney medals were clearly of the Roman colosseum.

“Just because they made a mistake in 1928 and Greece either didn’t spot it or ignored it then isn’t a reason to keep repeating it,” Hadji Vassilis said.

Aboriginal flag will fly
The Sydney Games Organising Committee (SOCOG) said on Monday the Aboriginal flag will be welcome at official venues, though there will be size limits.

SOCOG spokesman Milton Cockburn said a report in The Sunday Age newspaper that SOCOG had banned spectators from taking the aboriginal flag into venues was wrong.

Under a long-standing rule, flags from non-participating countries may not be flown at the Games. But the aboriginal flag, which is highly symbolical, would not be considered in this light. “The IOC has made it clear that they are relaxed about the aboriginal flag and they understand its significance in Australia,” Cockburn said. Australia’s highest-profile track and field athlete, 400-metre runner Cathy Freeman, draped herself in the aboriginal and Australian flags during her victory lap after winning the 400m At the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

The aboriginal flag red, yellow and black representing the earth, sun, and aboriginal people will also be flown at several Olympic sites.

Media Centre unveiled
The organisers have already set one record, the largest media centre in Olympic history. The 40,000 sq metre Main Press Centre (MPC) will house about 5,500 print journalists and photographers during the Games.