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Ancient Olympia wants some respect
Down the road from the Socrates caf De and the Zeus tavern, the mayor of this town that is the ancestral home of the Olympics is talking "semi-independence".
Down the road from the Socrates caf De and the Zeus tavern, the mayor of this town that is the ancestral home of the Olympics is talking secession from Greece or as he puts it, "semi-independence."
With the prime minister of Greece headed for Ancient Olympia on Wednesday for the first Olympic sporting event to be held at the original home of the Olympics after a tea break of some 1,600 years, Mayor John Skoularikis may have a captive if restless audience.
"If I get a chance I will raise the subject," the white haired mayor said in an interview with Reuters while seated at his desk in town hall with a signed photograph of one time revolutionary Nelson Mandela on the wall over his head.
He reels off a list of slights and indignities that could be corrected if Olympia, a town of 2,000 with an almost equal number of gift shops, was granted semi-independent status, the way Vatican City or Monaco has.
As he sees it: "The Athens Olympic Committee got all the money from the sponsors. We didn't get a penny to renovate or look better. They just leave us the rubbish."
Ancient Olympia will have a rare moment in the sun on Wednesday when 82 shot-putters arrive at the ruins of the ancient Olympic stadium to take part in an event that will be televised around the world.
The last Games conducted at Ancient Olympia were in 393 AD and then the event was banned by the Christians who had won control of the Roman Empire and promptly outlawed pagan rituals, including the Olympics which was dedicated to Zeus and which celebrated the male body.
Not only have the Olympics returned home but for the first time women athletes are taking part in an Olympic event being held at Olympia. The original Olympics barred women and Cleopatra Borel of Trinidad and Tobago is happy to make up for lost time, "This is an indescribable venue," she said.
Mayor Skoularikis says he is puzzled by the lack of respect Olympia receives. The Olympic flame is lit here and then sent around the world, but that is not enough.
He says the International Olympic Committee should hold meetings here to choose its Olympic sites. "Can you believe they make the choice in Switzerland. Is that right?"
Olympia needs to have a role in the sporting event it spawned, he said, adding a seat on the IOC would be fitting.
Zeus would agree.
(Additional reporting by Aliki Matsi)
