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US fears hostile Olympics
14/02/2004 22:34 - (SA)
Las Vegas - While United States athletes are being warned to prepare for a hostile reception at the Athens Olympics, Americans staying home are worried it might be worse than some booing and name-calling.
More than half of those surveyed in an Associated Press poll say they believe a terrorist attack is likely at the Summer Games, and four out of 10 say American athletes are most likely to be the target of any such attack.
The number of people believing a terrorist attack was likely - 52% - was much higher than the 31% who believed an attack was likely at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City two years ago. Those games were held just a few months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Athens organisers are spending $750m to protect the Olympics - three times what was spent in Sydney four years ago - and US Olympic officials say they are confident that all security measures possible will be taken to protect the 560 American athletes.
The world has changed
"We don't know of any specific security threats against the US team or the games," said Jim Scherr, chief executive of the US Olympic Committee. "However, it's obvious the world has changed and there are security concerns."
"It's definitely in a part of the world that causes some concern, but I believe that the people they have working on security are the best in the business and, as an athlete, you've got to move ahead and do what you do," said Dain Blanton, a beach volleyball gold medallist in Sydney.
With world tensions high and following deadly November attacks in neighbouring Turkey, Americans surveyed in the poll conduced for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs are clearly concerned.
Seven percent said they believed an attack was very likely, while 45% said it was somewhat likely.
Asked if American athletes were more likely than other athletes to be the targets of an attack, 39% said they were while 55% said they faced the same risk as other athletes.
The poll of one thousand adults was taken before the Moscow subway bombing that killed 41. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Greece has its own terrorist organisation in the virulently anti-American November 17 group, which authorities claim has been eliminated with a series of arrests and trials last year.
US Olympic officials are also concerned over the reception American athletes will get in a country where there is an undercurrent of anti-American sentiment.
That concern was only heightened after boos nearly drowned out The Star-Spangled Banner, and dozens of fans chanted "Osama! Osama!" to the US men's soccer team during its losing Olympic qualifying game in Mexico this week.
American athletes have been told not to wear uniforms or anything identifying them as Americans outside the heavily guarded Olympic village, and the US team is bringing over a number of sports psychologists to help athletes deal with what will likely be a hostile environment.
- AP
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