In Brief
TALLY GROWS
Teenage judoka wins Greece its second gold medal Ilias Iliadis, a 17-year-old Greek who immigrated from Georgia with his parents as a child, became the youngest Olympic judo medalist yesterday when he won gold in the 81-kilogram category. Iliadis gave Greece its second gold medal of the Games and immediately received telegrams of congratulation from Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and other political leaders. «When the objective is to fight, age does not matter,» Iliadis said after the final in which he beat Ukraine’s Roman Gontyuk. Today, the focus of the Olympics will shift to Ancient Olympia, where the men’s and women’s shot put event will be the first Olympic contest in the birthplace of the Games since the ancient games were outlawed by a Byzantine emperor in AD 393. ZEPPELIN STAYS AIRBORNE Court rejects request by rights group for surveillance craft to be grounded An Athens court yesterday rejected a request by a local rights group to ground a surveillance blimp that has been monitoring Attica by air as part of the Olympic security umbrella. The Democratic Rally for Individual Rights had maintained that the zeppelin could be used to listen in on the private conversations of ordinary citizens. But the court ruled that citizens’ privacy is not violated by the blimp’s operation. INFORMATION HOTLINE A 24-hour multilingual service A 24-hour hotline, offering practical information about transport, cultural events and emergency services in six different languages, started operating yesterday, the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) said yesterday. The call center, contactable by dialing 1532, is manned by operators speaking Greek, English, French, German, Spanish and Russian. Donations Olympic athletes are being asked to donate unwanted sports clothing and shoes to child refugees from Kosovo, Afghanistan and other underdeveloped countries, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said yesterday. Athletes are being asked to place the sportswear in special containers that have been set up in the Olympic Village in Thrakomakedones. Blaze probe The mayor of Filothei yesterday testified before a prosecutor in connection with a forest fire in the Attiko Alsos caused by fireworks set off at a lavish party thrown by Athens 2004 Organizing Committee (ATHOC) President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki last Saturday. Theofrastos Economidis brought charges against all responsible parties following the fire which, the fire service concluded, had been provoked by fireworks set off for the ATHOC chief’s party. Olympian injured A 27-year-old Irish Olympian was hospitalized with serious injuries yesterday after the car he was driving in the Porto Heli area veered into an oncoming truck. Jamie Costin, a 5,000-meter walker sustained injuries to his legs and midriff. Cabbies The Attica Taxi Owners’ Association (SATA) yesterday reminded its members that a surcharge of 3 euros should only be applied when taking passengers to or from an Olympic venue and not for any other trips. The association admitted that it had received «plenty» of complaints – both by letter and by telephone – over the past few days from passengers saying they had been inappropriately charged the extra fee by cab drivers. Karla reservoir An extra 2.9 million euros in credit has been approved for a reservoir which is part of plans to restore Lake Karla in Thessaly, according to a decision by Public Works Minister Giorgos Souflias which was made public yesterday.
