Congress in Progress

What is most noticeable about the Pre-Olympic this year is the presence of social science and humanities research. There are a lot of papers discussing the law and philosophy of sport, which were not quite so present in Brisbane 2000. However, Brisbane was an important stage towards this presence and the role of John Nauright in 2000, who was able to put a lot of social science on the programme, was greatly appreciated. It is encouraging that some of the sport science congresses are now opening up to the less hard sciences. The ECSS meeting is also a good indication of this and its numbers are also quite staggering – around 1800 in 2003. In the evenings we have the chance to explore a bit of the city. Thessaloniki has great food to offer, very different from the excessive touristy bias that tends to predominate in Athens most popular spots (there is not really a Plaka here, but rather plenty of little squares full of local unpretentious flavour).

Pre-Olympic Congress in Thessaloniki

The International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) Pre-Olympic congress is the largest Sport-related congress on the calendar. This year it is taking place in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece at the border with Macedonia. We have a very nice train ride from Athens with views of the changing Greek landscape, including mount Olympus and the sacred hills of Meteora.

We get a nice first impression of Thessaloniki, one of four Olympic cities around Greece hosting the football tournament. The city is full of Olympic banners, but has a very different feel to Athens. The air is cooler, the buildings have a marked Turkish and Macedonian influence and there is not the chaos of Olympic preparations that pervade in the capital. The trip from the train station to the hotel is very straight forward. Upon arrival we met one of the Congress delegates in the station and both proceed to ask for information from the unaffiliated info stand. Hotel very pleasant, even a small glimpse of the ocean and not too far from the Congress venue.

The congress opening ceremony is around 6pm and includes MANY welcomes from officials, including Patrick Schamash, the IOC representative for Jacque Rogge and high priests from the Greek Orthodox Church coming from Olympia, the birth place of the Ancient Olympic Games. The long and elaborated ceremony offers a first glimpse at Greek protocols which are going to be continued at length throughout the Olympic fortnight all around the country. The evening ends with a range of cultural presentations and – finally! – some nice Greek food.

The Zappeion Media Centre

Our fears of being denied accreditation at Zappeion Press Centre (ZPC), the Athens Olympics non-accredited media centre, are soon dispersed. It is very easy. They have our cards ready on arrival and the place is just great. There is plenty of space to work, free broadband connections, a wide range of display areas with information about Greek culture, the environment, events and business.

Welcome to Athens

Arrival in Athens at 3.30am local time. We have been travelling since 3pm UK time the day before (Monday). We sleep in the airport until 7am. Just over one week before the Games begin, the new airport is looking very tidy and spacious. It was an early flight - arriving around 5am - so we didn't really get to test the airport at its busiest, but all was smooth in any case. We decided to try the bus system into the city, which would drop us off near to our accommodation. The bus actually seemed quicker than other times we have had to travel from the Airport into the city. It had been just under a year since either of us were last in Athens and, on the bus ride alone, it seemed like a different place.

We spend a lot of this day getting re-acquainted with our hosts. We are staying in area called Nea Smyrni, which is not far from the new tram route from the city centre, south towards the port, where some of the coastal sports venues are located. It is a nice neighbourhood 15min away from Athens city centre and other 15m from the coast, the Faliro Olympic complex etc.

First priority was to purchase a new SIM card for the mobile phone! Easily done, but only if you have a Greek friend or can speak a little yourself. This was not the city centre and the area has a very local, community feel to it.

On Route to Athens

The flight from Glasgow was with British Airways. We had expected to see a reasonable amount of Olympic branding, since BA is the UK official carrier. However, there was very little on our journey that indicated we were on our way to the Olympic host city or that the Games were about to begin in just over a week.