ATHENS - Whitecaps tossed and capsized at least 30 sailboats in competition. Shade umbrellas rolled, tumbleweed-style, across Olympic tennis courts. Volunteers scrambled to grab fencing blown down at the cycling road course.
Greece's notorious Meltemi wind, with its 20 mph currents and 32 mph gusts, was even strong enough Sunday to redirect the path of speeding shotgun shells.
"The final was difficult," said Russia's Alexei Alipov, who won gold in trap shooting. "The other shooters missed some shots due to the wind, but I didn't worry about it."
The locals insist the Meltemi is nothing to fear. "This should last about 48 hours," meteorologist Theodoros Kolidas said. "We expect this every year."
SPRINTERS WILL APPEAL ANY EJECTION: Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou will appeal any IOC decision to kick them out of the Olympics for missing a drug test.
"It is not true that our athletes tried to evade doping control," their lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said the day before an International Olympic Committee disciplinary hearing.
The Greek Olympic Committee suspended the athletes from the team Saturday, pending the IOC's decision. Their coach, Christos Tsekos, was also suspended.
The IOC will examine the strange case of the athletes, accused of evading a drug test at the Olympic Village on Thursday. They later ended up at a hospital with minor cuts and bruises they said were sustained in a motorcycle accident. Police cannot find evidence the accident happened.
Kenteris, the defending 200-meter champion, is the country's most celebrated athlete. Thanou, the 100-meter silver medalist in 2000, is his training partner.
TESTS FOR U.S.: Several U.S. track and field athletes, including Marion Jones, have been given out-of-competition drug tests at their training camp at a seaside resort in Crete.
GOOD SEATS STILL AVAILABLE: Many events took place in barely filled venues for a second day, but organizers said they hoped ticket sales would pick up as the Games become more exciting. Still, they launched a national TV campaign Sunday to boost sales.
"We never hid the fact that less popular sports and preliminary rounds would not be a full house," spokesman Michael Zaharatos said in a Reuters report.
The IOC, concerned the Games' image could be tarnished if competitions are held in front of half-empty stands, raised the issue with organizers Sunday.
At the opening of tennis, about 500 spectators were at the 8,000-seat center court when defending gold medalist Venus Williams defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary. At the women's gymnastics team qualifying, so few people showed up that hawkers were trying to dump tickets for less than half price. Panathinaiko Stadium was eerily empty for archery. Volunteers appeared to outnumber spectators at equestrian events.
TABLOID SECURITY STORY REFUTED: The Greek government insisted there were no problems with security, a day after a British tabloid reporter wrote that he was able to leave three fake bombs undetected in the main stadium.
Bob Graham, of London's Sunday Mirror, said he worked at the stadium as a forklift operator without undergoing background checks. He wrote that he was able to leave the fake bombs after getting them through security.
A ministry spokesman said officials searched the stadium and other venues before the Olympics and found nothing.
Athens Olympics official Michalis Zacharatos said the story was "full of factual errors."
