Olympics: Popular Kiwis charm Athens

By EUGENE BINGHAM in Athens

New Zealand, the Olympic team chief has confessed, is getting away with murder.

In the typical Kiwi way, the Olympians have quickly become charm kings and queens of Athens.

It's a tactic that's working.

"People can't be more friendly and helpful," chef de mission Dave Currie said. "We get away with murder in the village."

Some of the services and luxuries laid on for the team are causing other teams to think the grass is greener on the New Zealand side of the athletes' village - with good reason.

Thanks to the wiles and friendliness of New Zealand official Charles Callis, the Kiwi team quarters are about the only ones with a bit of grass growing outside.

Currie said Callis had convinced Greek staff in the village to lay a small patch of ready lawn to improve the area around a piece of artwork the team have brought with them.

"We have found that the Greeks have unbelievable respect for New Zealand," Currie said.

He believed that if there was not a Greek competitor in an event, "it will be pretty much like a home crowd for us".

It's certainly true that the New Zealand team have punched above their weight in the publicity stakes.

The haka performed during Tuesday night's ceremony at the Allied war ceremony has become a favourite clip on local television.

The status of the New Zealand team reflects the pride the team are taking in themselves and the national identity.

Former top Maori sportsmen Trevor Shailer and Dallas Seymour have been brought in to teach team members about Maori culture and how to perform the haka properly, aspects which have been incorporated in welcoming ceremonies as new athletes arrive in the village.

Each time a new group arrive, they are greeted with a haka and presented with a piece of greenstone.

While they will not get away with the impromptu haka which caused much excitement during the opening ceremony at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, the team will put on a performance for their fellow athletes immediately before they march into the stadium on Saturday morning.

Currie hopes that as athletes become more confident doing the haka, they will use it spontaneously to mark achievements and instil Kiwi pride.

It is obvious around Athens that the Kiwi currency is strong against others, probably in large part because of the sacrifices made by the hundreds of New Zealanders who died in Greece during World War II.

But in a country with a solid sense of its own identity and cultural significance, there are reminders that New Zealanders should not get too wrapped up in their own importance.

Asked what Greeks really thought of New Zealanders, one local offered: "You are the best of the Anglo Saxons." A backhanded compliment if ever there was one.