Spectator Sport Sailing?

Spectator Sport Sailing?
Spectator Sport Sailing?

Video: Spectator Sport Sailing?

Video: Spectator Sport Sailing?
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Anonim

The sailors mustn't complain. Your marinist was one of the first Olympic sites to be completed, and the infrastructure is excellent. However, the special Olympic feeling doesn't really want to arise.

The area is so extensive that the active ones sometimes feel lost. Sure, you are spoiled by Sydney. The spectators could follow the final races on the inner tracks from land. Thousands of them sat on the bank and applauded the maneuvers of the sailing stars. The match races in front of the opera house are unforgettable.

This time there is zero contact with the people. It is simply not possible to get a close look at the sailors. You are behind a fence that takes an hour to go off. That means, you can't get to the water in this area. And if it does, a friendly Greek stands behind a bush and shows the way in the opposite direction with a Kalashnikov.

The center looks pretty nice from a distance. An architect has put a kind of church spire at the east end and tinkered around it a futuristic framework that opens up to the sky like a shell. The medal ceremonies are supposed to take place here.

But there is nothing nearby where the sailors can meet away from the hustle and bustle. No sailing club, no pub, not even a shady lawn.

The freshly paved four-lane road passes by and is designed as generously as if an American had planned it. At the same time, the brand new air-conditioned tram runs, with grassy areas between the tracks.

In addition, however, there are huge sandy areas that look as if a war has recently taken place here. Gap holes that look like shell craters. Next to it are mini palms that should probably be planted. Reinforced concrete rings are stacked in a mess.

The areas are used by bathers everywhere on the coast as a parking lot. When a car drives over it, the wind spreads the dust over kilometers.

There is an amusement park with a Ferris wheel and a swing boat right next to the Marin. It doesn't fit in here so much that its operator doesn't even open it. Is he waiting for more guests after the games?

A few kilometers to the west there is a sailing club that apparently hosted one of the Olympic preparatory regattas. The advertising of it is still stuck to the fences. Access to the water is possible here. The two 470 fields can be seen some distance away.

In fact, two British spectators with high-performance field glasses have also appeared. They sit on a weathered concrete quay and target their compatriots.

It's a desolate place. Twisted steel girders protrude from the torn rock. In between there is a rotten, faded 470 next to the wreck of a Finn. Like dead fish, only they don't smell like that.

Sailing in Athens is a bit like the wind. Outwardly almost perfect, but somehow a bit chaotic.

Not that the Greeks totally forgot the audience. Sailing is the sport that sold out first. After all, the tickets on the boats cost 90 euros each. But maybe they want to keep it a little too elitist.

The mega yachts that lie in the many small bays and harbors testify that sailing in Greece is a sport for the rich. And he will stay that way after the games.

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