ATHENS, 14 August 2003 — Formal invitations to compete in next year’s Athens Olympics were sent out to a record 201 nations, including war-torn Afghanistan, Iraq and East Timor, yesterday as the one-year countdown to the Games began.
The tiny South Pacific island of Kiribati was the fourth new name on the list as Olympic invites for the first time numbered more than 200. “All countries of the world will be represented. It is a very symbolic day,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge said at a ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“It is very dear to our hearts that we will have Afghan athletes, Iraqi athletes, we will have athletes from East Timor, three countries that were affected by war in the last years,” Rogge said.
Greece celebrated the 366 day countdown — 2004 is a leap year — with front-page banner headlines proclaiming “One year to go before the big celebration”.
While elated at the record numbers and invitations to nations recently at war, Rogge said world turmoil set off since the 2000 Sydney Olympics by global terrorism — including the Sept. 11 attacks —‚ meant the Athens Games would be held under a security shadow.
He said protection of 11,000 athletes and 130,000 spectators a day had to be Athens’ top priority so there was no repetition of the 1972 Munich massacre. “We can never have 100 percent security but everything that is possible has already been done or has started,” Rogge told reporters. But infighting has already started over how much authority nations will have in guarding their teams after Australia’s insistence this week that they would be bringing their own security officials. Other nations such as the United States and Britain, like Australia still heavily involved in the Iraq and Afghan conflicts with troops in both places, are also likely to want to set up their own security screens.
“I am a bit surprised because I had the impression the Australians are not fully aware of the security preparations (in Athens),” Rogge said.
