Athens 1896

Athens 1896, the first Olympic Games and the first poster for the Olympic games!

Sarkozy the first to talk about boycott

We are definitely going to live again days of the Moscow Olympics! French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he has not ruled out boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in China over the situation in Tibet.

His aides said France was still opposed to a full boycott but that it might pull out of the opening ceremony in Beijing on 8 August. The recent unrest in Tibet has sparked worldwide concern.

Olympics chief Jacques Rogge said last week he was "heartened" that no major government had backed a boycott. On Tuesday, the White House said US President George W Bush still planned to attend the opening of the Games, while the UK said Prime Minister Gordon Brown would still be going to the closing ceremony.

It seems in the end the Athens Olympics will be the last real Olympics to remember despite the fact of all the negativity before they started.

Olympic torch aflame …China

The Olympic torch has been lit at a ceremony being held in Greece amid heavy security. About 1,000 police officers are patrolling ancient Olympia, fearing protests by pro-Tibet demonstrators.

One person briefly disrupted proceedings as China's representative spoke but was removed by security.

Olympic ceremony

A ceremony is due to be held in Greece to light the torch that will be carried to Beijing for the Olympic Games. Hundreds of police will be on patrol around ancient Olympia, where the games originated almost 3,000 years ago.

Security is tight to prevent disruption by activists, who have vowed to protest over the violence in and around Tibet. The head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended the decision to hold the Games in China saying there was "no momentum" for a boycott.

"The major political leaders don't want a boycott," said IOC president Jacques Rogge said ahead of Monday's ceremony. The torch is to travel through 20 countries - and scale Mount Everest - before the Beijing Games open on 8 August.

He’s running out of excuses as well, what does it mean the major political leaders don't want a boycott? If I remember well from the past USA was a major power but boycotted Moscow Olympics and the Russians did the same in Los Angeles, the thing now is who’s going to be the first, the rest will just follow!