Wind Causes Big Trouble - Indoors and Out

Stage an Olympics in Greece and it is only a matter of time before the gods will have their fun. And Aeolus, the keeper of the winds, is proving more playful than most as he ridicules the sporting aspirations of the world's finest athletes.

The hosts are trying to make light of it. "Meltemi winds have been known in Greece since the times of Aristotle," said Dimitris Diakopoulos, a leading meteorologist. But the brisk north-easterlies, which regularly funnel into Athens from the Balkan mountains at this time of year, are driving outdoor and indoor competitors alike to distraction.

The sailors, predictably, were the first to suffer when the meltemi hit town on Sunday. It swirled around the Saronic Gulf, assisting some boats and swamping about 30 others. Then yesterday it disappeared entirely, turning the sea into a millpond.

The rowers and canoeists have regarded the Schinias centre with trepidation ever since gusting winds brought chaos to a test event this time last year. Similar conditions caused yesterday's rowing to be called off and today's regatta resumes six hours late to give the winds time to abate. Officials warned crews to go for their best times in case repechages or semi-finals have to be abandoned.

At the whitewater canoeing, the Helliniko coastal complex has officials threatening cancellation today if the winds are too strong. The slalom gates, through which the competitors must pass, dangle from wires and are particularly vulnerable. Officials have made them shorter, added weights and fiddled with the rules.

Gusts of up to 30mph have played havoc with the archers at the Panathinaiko Stadium. Despite a three-metre high windbreak placed along the entire length of the course, a sprinkling of shots have entirely missed the target.

A runaway umbrella, whipped from a spectator's hand, might have caused carnage in the women's cycling road race had not an official rescued it in the nick of time. They are even complaining indoors, with the Belgian table tennis player, Jean-Michel Saive, blaming yesterday's shock defeat on a windy hall.

Perhaps there is a reason for all this. The Greek myths have it that Aeolus kept his winds in an island cave. He gave a bag of winds to Odysseus as a gift, but the ship's crew stole them, and inadvertently let them out. As it happens, they were looking for gold. Centuries later, they are still looking for gold and the wind is still blowing.