Were the Athens Olympics worth it?
The glow of the fireworks has gone for good over the OAKA Olympic stadium in northern Athens. Santiago Calatrava’s iconic canopy has been left “naked,” without the polycarbonate panels. The current management of the Olympic complex now says it will try to wake up the “white elephant” from its 20-year slumber. All the previous ones had said the same. Two decades since the closing ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympics, when the country was sailing in a sea of happiness and unprecedented national self-confidence, the questions remain the same: Did Greece do the right thing to get involved in this costly adventure? Was it punching above its weight? And is the widespread perception that the foundations of bankruptcy and the bailouts were laid in those years valid? [Periklis Merakos]
