Two of the Athens Olympic Games’s most high-profile stars planned to miss Friday’s opening ceremony, along with hundreds of other athletes content to shun a lifetime memory to ensure they won’t compromise their Olympic performance.
Gold-medal pool favourites Michael Phelps of the United States and Australian Ian Thorpe should be in good company back at the athletes village — with up to 1Â 000 athletes of the 10Â 500 in Athens expected to stay away from the steamy Olympic stadium.
While tickets for the opener were sold out months ago, tens of millions were expected to watch on television around the world and many athletes consider it a highlight of their games. Those who stayed away felt it had something considerably lacking — recovery time.
Both Phelps, likely swimming in eight events in Athens and seeking a record seven gold medals, and Thorpe, attempting to defend his 400m freestyle title, will swim on Saturday. Medals will be decided on Saturday in other sports such as diving, judo and fencing.
Australian officials said nearly 200 of their 482-member team would not march around the stadium on Friday night, including most of the swimming, rowing and soccer teams, and many of the track and field athletes and cyclists.
American beach volleyballer Holly McPeak, who has been in two previous opening ceremonies at Sydney and Atlanta, will be one member of the 530-strong US team not to march.
”You start at 3.30pm and it ends at around 11pm and you still have to get back to the Olympic village,” she said at a news conference on Thursday. ”It’s really a long time to be on our feet and it’s very hot here. I’d rather be resting and watching it on TV.”
British team spokesperson Philip Pope would not say how many of the country’s 271 athletes would march, ”but we’re here to concentrate on performance”.
He said Britain’s entire track and field squad would be absent because they are still training in Cyprus.
Canadian team spokesperson Stephane Delisle said only 130 of Canada’s 237 athletes would march along with 57 officials.
Absentees would include their women’s softball team who play Taiwan on Saturday, but Delisle stressed that many of Canada’s athletes had not arrived in Athens for their competitions.
Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said 196 athletes of the Australian team had already pulled out with more expected to follow after receiving advice from the team doctor. He said 130 of those will compete on Saturday in 16 sports.
”Athletes are very fit people who use a lot of dynamic muscles and larger muscle groups to propel themselves in their sport,” said Australian team doctor Brian Sando. ”But the muscles they don’t use very often are the ones they use when they’re standing.
”These, of course, fatigue because they’re not used to this sort of workload, and that provides other aches and pains that takes two or three days to overcome in many instances.”
The non-appearance of athletes might not result in fewer people in the stadium — Olympic rules say six officials are allowed to march with the team, but more can march in place of missing athletes.
Coates said Australian coaches and other staff would fill the spots of the missing athletes.
There are 5Â 500 coaches and officials with teams in Athens. — Sapa-AP
Special Report: Olympics 2004