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The Wall of the Nations, at the Olympic Center of Maroussi, is a series of medal rods that move mechanically and resemble a waving drape.
The Good...
China's Du Li, the world record holder in the 10 m air rifle, won the first gold medal of the 28th Olympics, in the first day of the Shooting competition.
The most exciting events happened at the Olympic Aquatic Center. The Australian 4x100 freestyle women's team set a new world record and won gold over the US team, that had dominated the event in the last 3 Olympics. Michael Phelps of the US set a new world record and won handily in the 400 m individual medley, while in the men's 400 m freestyle Australian Ian Thorpe, the "thorpedo", repeated his Sydney performance and won back-to-back gold.
The Bad...
For about two and a half hours on Saturday morning the Main Press Center experienced a power failure that resulted in the reporters not having access to results from the competition venues.
Some of the early buses from the main Press Village to the Schinias rowing site did not run, resulting in German and other reporters being stranded and unable to reach the competition venue.
And the Weird...
Iranian double world champion judoka Arash Miresmaeili, and the heavy favorite to win in the 66 kg category, withdrew from competition on Saturday refusing to compete against Ahud Vaks of Israel, citing his sympathy for the Palestinian cause.
nyloo's daily Olympic Diary
The highlight of these Games, so far, after the completion of the first day of competition, is the complete absence of events to report.
Don't take this the wrong way. There is a lot to report, of course, but nothing to report.
After all the fears that were expressed in the last two years over construction delays and organizational deficiencies, after all the stories about the security threats and the turning of Athens into an armed camp of police, troops and NATO forces, one would expect a stream of stories about, well, the sites, the mishaps and the army presence that everyone was predicting.
Well, we are happy to report, none of that, so far.
The sites are glorious, the transportation seems to be working flawlessly, the organizers have, so far, performed professionally, and the security forces are nowhere to be seen.
This is not an exaggeration. The police presence is so discreet that it makes you think that these are not the Athens Games, but the Mexico City Games, in 1968, before Black September made security a major issue for the IOC.
At night, when the lights go off at the stadiums and the pools, Athens turns into a street fair. The city's wonderful metro system carries visitors, athletes and Athenians to downtown, especially Monastiraki and Syntagma, for a stroll, for dinner and for drinks.
Monastiraki Square seems to be the center of life at night. The kebob and grill restaurants are jam packed, with Mexicans, Danes, Brazilians, Americans, Canadians and people from all over the world who proudly wear their national colors, dance to Greek music, and down platter after platter of traditional Greek grilled meats and gallons of beer.
The monuments of the Acropolis, the Thesseion, the Observatory and Kerameikos are wonderfully lit and stand out in the darkness of the surrounding parks. Strollers can't seem to take their eyes off them. The cafes, restaurants and bars of the areas around the Acropolis have installed large size television sets and projectors so that their customers can watch the ongoing competition. They are buzzing with people and the discussion is all about the Olympics: about the Opening Ceremony, about the symbolism of this or that, about the swimming competition, about everything.
