News and Notes from the around the Olympics: Saturday, August 7

<< Back to Articles
John Fuller (TheMat.com)
08/07/2004


Greek Olympian Injured  Elli Ioannou, 20, a member of the Greek Olympic judo team, fell from the balcony of her third-floor apartment on Saturday. The fall followed an argument with her boyfriend.    Ioannou was taken to the Red Cross Hospital. The incident is under investigation.      Australian Runner Hurt  Jana Pittman, a member of the Australian Olympic track and field team, tore cartilage in her right knee during warmups for the Weltklasse Golden League meet in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday night.    Pittman, who competes in the 400 meter hurdles, planned to see an orthopedic surgeon Saturday to determine the extent of the injury. Meet organizers in Switzerland said she needs surgery.    "She's clearly put a lot of hard work in, and for any athlete to suffer injury at this stage of her preparation when she was going so well is very, very tragic," said John Coates, president of the Australian Olympic Committee.      Airport Ease  Athens International Airport officials have arranged to "fast-track" members of Olympic delegations when they arrive and depart for the Olympics.    Extra passenger clearance areas and accreditation desks have been set up at the airport to help ease congestion.    Airport officials are expecting thousands of arrivals on August 12, the day before the Opening Ceremonies, as well as thousands of departures on August 30, the day following the Closing Ceremonies.    Athletes and coaches will be able to check in for their return flights at the Olympic Village, further helping to clear up airport congestion following the Games.      Ticket Update  Overall, 2.3 million out of a possible 5.3 million tickets have been sold to date for the Olympic Games. Organizers have a goal of selling at least 3.4 million tickets by the end of the Games.    On Thursday, a single-day record of 53,997 tickets were sold to the general public, exciting Olympic officials.    "What is important is that ... everyday we are breaking new records," state Michael Zacharatos an Olympics spokesperson. "The response from the Greek public over the past week has been overwhelmingly great and we hope by the times the games begin we'll go even closer to our record."      Banned from the Olympics  The Associated Press is reporting that Belarus Minister of Sport Yuri Sivakov has been banned by the Greek government from attending the Olympic Games due to alleged human rights abuses.    The Greek government said it would place a visa ban on Sivakov to keep him out of the country even if he does have a credential.    Sivakov and Belarus' president, Alexander Lukashenko, have been implicated in the disappearances of prominent opposition figures.    "Using the Olympics for increasing political pressure on Belarus is counterproductive and wouldn't help restore a political dialogue with the European Union," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.    The decision to ban Sivakov came after the 25-nation European Union, of which Greece is a member, issued a statement saying that Sivakov's presence at the games would "be completely inappropriate."      U.S. Wrestling Departure  The U.S. Greco-Roman Olympic Wrestling Team departed for Athens on August 7. The team is set to arrive at 3:00 p.m. (local Athens time) on August 8.    TheMat.com will cover the team's arrival into the Athens airport.