This year Athens, the historical homeland of the Olympics whither they are to return, will attract not only athletes but also tourists. Olena Hetmantseva, general director of MISB Travel Ukraine, exclusive agent of Ukraine’s Olympic Committee on all aspects of organizing Ukrainians’ trips to the Athens Olympics, believes that holding the Olympics “so close to our country” will contribute to increasing the number of our compatriots who will attend it. By preliminary estimations, 5000 Ukrainians will be able to visit Athens from August 12 to 31. A special Ukrainian sector will be assigned for them on the stands, divided into the A and B compartments according to the level of the seats’ comfort. Compare this with the Sydney Olympics, attended by only fifty Ukrainian citizens. Olena Hetmantseva says that next time Ukrainians will get a chance to visit the Olympics no sooner than in around 25 years, since until then all Olympics will be held in “faraway lands.”
Even today it is virtually impossible to book a ticket to the 2004 Olympics. Simultaneously, the said company, the only one in Ukraine that has an opportunity to reserve tickets to the Olympics, has purchased 18,000 tickets to competitions in all kinds of sports from the day of the opening ceremony to the closing. The price for the tickets varies from 12 to 900 euros, depending on the kind of sports and the date of the competition. In addition, a month ago they started selling a service package including boarding, visa, insurance, a set of reference materials, guided excursions, bus transportation to the stadiums, and even souvenirs. For the well- to-do Ukrainians the eighteen days at the Olympics will cost 25,000 euros, and for the more modest — 2,000. Tourists can choose between the fashionable five-stars Rotterdam ocean liner, accommodating almost 1500 persons, and common hotels. The liner will host the so-called Ukrainian House where Ukrainian star athletes, famous people, and politicians will be able to discuss the course of the Olympics. In general, eleven liners from various countries will be anchored in the Athens’s port of Piraeus. The Russian Osterdam will host, in addition to other sports’ fans, President Vladimir Putin. It has not yet been decided whether Ukraine’s president will be present at the games.
INCIDENTALLY
A Ministry of Public Health board meeting, held recently, was dedicated to the medical supervision of preparing the national teams for the Summer Olympic and Paralympic games in 2004 in Athens. Head of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee Ivan Fedorenko believes that in order to win our athletes need highly qualified specialists able to defend their interests on the international level. However, at present the Ukrainian team has no doctor at all. In this connection, Mr. Fedorenko says, our Olympians will be unable to either prepare for the competitions or go through a rehab course after them. “We have no government order,” head of the Sports Medicine Department of the Bohomolets National Medical University Valentyna Shapovalova commented on the situation. “Neither the Ministry of Public Health, State Sports Committee, nor local self-government bodies place orders for sports doctors, although highly qualified specialists graduate from our department every year.”
