Times sports writer Marc Topkin is in Athens covering the Summer Games. In this online journal, he shares his thoughts and experiences while covering the Olympics.
By MARC TOPKIN
Published August 16, 2004
ATHENS - We're finally settling into a schedule.
It's just not a good one.
The seven-hour time difference seemed like a great break for journalists used to covering made-for-TV events in the U.S. that don't end until around midnight and barely allow enough time to get the final score in the articles.
But we're finding being seven hours ahead hasn't been that great either.
Because of the difference, we've been able to attend night events, get post-game/post-race quotes, and come back to the media center to write - and write, and write, and write - our stories with some time for thoughtfulness and clarity.
About the only thing worse than giving us no time to write a story is to give us too much time. As a result, we've been working each night until 2 or 3 a.m. each, then going to eat, then making our way back to our dorm and going to sleep around 4.
Makes for some short nights and groggy mornings.
And that brings us back to the lack of what we'd consider good - or even drinkable - coffee. (Hello, Starbucks!)
Getting around has become somewhat simpler, though not necessarily easier. It takes us about an hour to get from our dorm to the main press center, which is near the Olympic stadium - in part because we actually have to take a shuttle from our particular dorm at the back of the facility (and up 38 stairs) just to the main gate where everyone staying in our media village catches the shuttle bus to the Olympic facilities - and then anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours to get to the venues.
While there was a lot of criticism and skepticism about how ready Athens would be, the organizers deserve credit for the development, and enforcement, of an Olympics lane on their major roads - only Olympic vehicles can use it (sort of like a car pool lane back home).
I can tell you from my trip to the baseball venue on Sunday, it works. And, I might add, apparently the bus drivers aren't too worried about speeding tickets.
With a trip to ancient Olympia coming up on Wednesday, I'll have a better idea of how the rest of Greece is coping.
Food is still something of an issue. We've got to get out more.
