Eugene Bingham: Olympic spirit bursts to surface

The overwhelming sentiment in the build-up to these Olympics was that the Athens Games would reconnect this mammoth event with its traditional values.

The Olympic spirit would flow from Athens like water gushing from a well and flood the world.

In the final hours before the opening ceremony, as Greeks fretted about how much damage its drug-tainted sprint stars Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou could cause, you had to wonder whether the well would prove to be embarrassingly dry.

In the Plaka district of downtown Athens we found a restaurant with a television and settled in to watch the opening ceremony.

Being a popular tourist area, the restaurant was crammed full of all nationalities, as well as Greeks dining out as they would on any Friday night.

In truth, it seemed we foreigners were far more interested than the locals in what was unfolding on the television.

The Athenians paid most attention to conversation around the table and their dishes of gyros pork and chicken washed down with Mythos beer.

Our waiter was far too busy to afford anything more than a casual glance at the screen, adopting a look of nonchalance about the whole event, as if it were a Greek version of Shortland Street.

As the march-past of athletes began, the restaurant warmed up. A table of Austrians clapped as their team entered the stadium, and the applause spread like a wave around the room.

It started a trend that enveloped tables from Mexico, Japan and Germany. Our waiter grimaced with every cheer.

With the parade of nations nearing an end, the middle-aged waiter grew visibly nervous. In the corner beside me, he chain-smoked, eyes now glued to the TV.

I stood to get a better view and saw Greece's athletes finally enter the stadium. The entire restaurant cheered.

Our waiter had a tear in his eye. A chill ran down my spine and, without thinking about it, I shook his hand. He put his arm around my shoulder and said: "You don't know how important this is to us. This is the first time in 108 years - it will be the only time in my lifetime."

Every city that hosts the Olympic Games is proud of its achievements. But to Athenians, the feeling goes much, much deeper than pride - and it's infectious.

New Zealanders were gratefully swept up by the wave. More than most of the Kiwi athletes, philosophical 50km walker Craig Barrett gives a lot of thought to the wider values of the Olympics.

"I have a lot of respect for the philosophies," he said.

"To me the Olympics is more than just a walk. It's a set of rules to live by."

He tried to describe the feeling of marching into the Olympic stadium - it was neither that of being uplifted nor overawed.

"To me it was sense of a quiet recognition of people that have gone before us.

"It reminds you of the importance of what you're doing."

Two days into the Games, which intend to help the world celebrate humanity once more, the Olympic spirit has definitely started flowing.