Olympics on TV
Athens spotlight finds plenty of women to shine on

By Jayda Evans
Seattle Times staff reporter

PETROS GIANNAKOURIS / AP Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, head of the Athens Olympic Committee, has been one of the prominent faces of the Games.

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She wore a casual, white-and-black outfit for the sit-down interview with Canadian broadcaster Brian Williams that aired before CBC's coverage of the opening ceremony last week.

A stark contrast to Athens Olympic Committee chairwoman Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki — dubbed the "Goddess of the Games" for her tireless work as much as her striking beauty — Athens mayor Dora Bakoyannis is more reserved.

And still as powerful.

Much like the 1996 Atlanta Games, the Athens Olympics continue the trend of women's liberation through the one international forum where there's equality in sport. Both Angelopoulos-Daskalaki and Bakoyannis are the first women to hold their respective positions in their country — two of many women creating firsts at these Olympics, which include the introduction of women's wrestling.

Impressed by this fact, Williams inquired about Bakoyannis' role, especially if she believed there was any special meaning.

"It's a good example that even in this country women can have the same chances as a man," she responded. "It's not always easy. But it is possible."

The women have grabbed attention in various ways.

Before the Games began we were bombarded with scantily clad or topless Olympians, from Lauren Jackson's nude shoots in an Australian photo magazine to a seductively posed Marion Jones in Maxim, a men's magazine.

And my, how swimmer Amanda Beard has grown.

She has gone from a teddy-bear-toting teen in Atlanta to just bare (well, almost) in several men's mags.
 
In the fashion industry, models that aspire to reach the silver screen are referred to as MTAs, or models-turned-actresses. These Olympics have introduced the ATMs, the athletes-turned-models who've acted as the draw for viewing audiences and advertising dollars. From volleyball's Logan Tom to water polo's Amber Stachowski, they've volunteered (or were paid) to strip down in the name of sport, behind the premise that they're displaying the toned bodies rigorous workouts have blessed them with.

That, uh, overexposure has drawn a few new fans to the Olympics. But in Athens, the focus on the roles of Angelopoulos-Daskalaki and Bakoyannis and what women have done so far in competition have formed an image not even gymnastics analyst Al Trautwig could ruin. On Thursday, it was Beard winning the 200-meter breaststroke and Carly Patterson being carried around by her coach after becoming the first American since Mary Lou Retton to win gold in the gymnastics all-around.

Watching Patterson watch herself perform an impeccable floor routine during an interview with NBC's Bob Costas made her skin dimple, she was so pleased.

"Did you know there you had the gold?" Costas asked as the adjacent television screen showed Patterson finishing her final tumbling pass to the swing music of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

"Yeah," she said with a smile soon to be plastered everywhere by marketers.

Before Patterson's and Beard's feats, though, it was the women shot putters, who broke a nearly 3,000-year barrier of not only being forbidden to compete at historic Olympia, site of the original Games, but being thrown from a cliff if caught watching the men compete. Then there's the American women's basketball team, which continues to dominate, disposing of Spain yesterday 71-58 to advance to the quarterfinals undefeated from their pool.

And alongside every woman's accomplishment there's a Michael Phelps or Paul Hamm achieving the same heights before our eyes. Equal in aesthetic beauty.

"It is possible," mayor Bakoyannis repeated, speaking of the trials she's been through in her tiny country.

Only now Greece, through television, is showing the world how exciting it is when we share the stage.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com