Games will be ready on time, Athens 2004 chief says

The Athens Olympic Games in 2004 will go ahead as planned and on schedule, the head of the organising committee said on Thursday.

"Athens has made significant progress towards a safe, secure, technically excellent Olympic Games in 2004," ATHOC chief Gianna Angelopoulos told a news conference.

"We will be ready on time ... over the past few months we have moved from planning to implementation."

Earlier this week, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis warned his ministers to speed up preparations for the Games and said they might have to resort to "drastic measures" to get the Olympics ready for the August 2004 start date.

"Don't worry, by the Games time everything will be ready," Angelopoulos said.

"No project is behind schedule. What is good news is that the prime minister is heavily involved in the whole project."

An International Olympic Committee inspection team will visit Athens on November 6. Two years ago the IOC told organisers they could lose the Games if they did not accelerate preparations.

Angelopoulos was asked about the Elgin Marbles, the classical treasures taken from the Athens Acropolis in the 19th century, which are now in the British Museum in London.

She said she was hoping for a "complete performance" at the Olympics and a "complete" Parthenon was part of that hope.