Olympia going green ahead of torch ceremony

By Karolos Grohmann

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (Reuters) - Workers are racing against the clock to re-plant trees on ancient Olympia before next month's Beijing Games torch-lighting ceremony after the area was devastated by last year's forest fires.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land were torched during the blazes last August that left much of the western Peloponnese in ashes and more than 65 people dead.

The site of the ancient Olympics and the modern Games' torch-lighting ceremony and relay did not escape destruction. The once lush pine forests that hug the ancient stadium and the popular archaeological site were left charred.

"Re-planting is already halfway done," Olympia mayor Giorgos Aidonis told Reuters on Monday. "As usual, we started late but I am optimistic that by the end of February the work will finish."

The Hellenic Olympic Committee recently warned that Greece faced international embarrassment because of re-forestation delays that would become visible in television pictures beamed around the world during the ceremony on March 24.

The Games will be held in the Chinese capital in August.

"We are rushing to be ready on time. More than 27,000 plants and trees will be planted by the end of February," Aidonis said.