Going for gold or bust?

G reece wins walk gold:

Tsoumeleka had been an outsider to win the event

Latest estimates of the costs of hosting the Athens Olympics put them at up to $10bn - a huge amount for a small country like Greece, once the poorest in the EU.

The nation has pinned hopes of a successful future on the events being a showcase for a "transformed" country, attracting new investors and tourists alike.

But there is anger in government that the home team's doping scandals - and a tourism slump - are ruining Greece's image.

A key treasury aide told reporters that Games spending would become an investment only if Greece got the right public relations message across.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is said to be incensed at the damage done by the controversy over drugs.

Weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was kicked out of the Games on Sunday after failing a dope test, a week after Greece's two leading sprinters quit the Olympics after being unavailable for testing.

As a measure of official irritation, government sources have let it be known that they will strip drug cheats of all the privileges their medals have earned them.

A catastrophic fall in tourism in the Olympic year is also overshadowing optimism.

Many traditional Aegean Sea holiday islands are reported to be uncharacteristically empty. Tourism association figures suggest a fall in holiday travel of up to 25%.

Greeks are said to be feeling the pinch after joining the euro single currency, while foreign visitors are though to have been put off by security concerns, fears of over-pricing and the sluggish world economy.

Such signs do not bode well for Greece's ballooning budget deficit - already at about 4% of GDP, far higher than rules laid down by the EU.

But politicians are still talking up the benefits of the Games.

At a meeting of the Athens 2004 Business Club - set up to exploit the commercial opportunities of the Games - Deputy Finance Minister Petros Doukas was in ebullient mood.

However, Mr Doukas admitted that total spending on the Olympics was certain to rise to more than 7bn euros (￡4.6bn) from an original estimate of 4.6 bn euros. Other reports put the figure at about double the original estimate.

Greece has certainly improved its transport infrastructure and facilities in Athens. And the complex construction projects it undertook for the Olympics have enhanced the skills of the local workforce.

But the issue of whether they are worth staging is hotly contested. Montreal emerged from the 1976 event with a $1.2bn deficit, an amount reportedly still being paid off by residents through local taxes.

Los Angeles in 1984 is thought to be the first time the Olympics turned a serious profit for the hosts. They were also the first Games funded almost entirely by the private sector.

Since then, it is thought the Games have always made money, or at least broken even.

Editor: Frankspeak