The night of nights
The countdown to the Olympic Games is almost over. Athens is as ready as it ever will be for tonight’s opening ceremony of the XXVIII Olympiad. In far-off Shanghai, workers sending off the final batches of some 40,000 banners and flags will be heaving a sigh of collective relief, and press photographers in Athens will be taking their last shots of the city before their real work begins in and around the stadiums, as the mood in the Olympic Village reaches fever pitch. [Photos selected by Giorgos Tsiros.]
