Tutu stunt stumps organizers
A Canadian tourist who created a splash on Monday by disrupting the Olympic synchronized diving contest helped provide a revealing insight into how Athens 2004 organizers convey their version of events at the Games. Dressed in a blue tutu, tights and clown’s shoes and bare-chested, Ron Bensimhon, 31, left his seat at the indoor swimming pool around 11 p.m., climbed onto a board and leapt into the water. He was eventually hauled out and arrested. Apparently oblivious to the fact that the Canadian had an advert for an Internet betting site printed in large letters all over his chest, Athens 2004 Executive Director Marton Simitsek presented the incident yesterday as a loving husband’s bid to impress his wife. «He was in love,» Simitsek told journalists. «He wanted to present a message to his wife by getting on television.» The Athens 2004 official added that security would be further stepped up at venues. Greece has spent over a billion euros on Olympic security, and spectators sporting advertising logos on their clothes are banned from entering venues.
