After the snub of 1996, the Olympics are returning to their Greek birthplace in 2004.
Athens was awarded the first Summer Games of the new millennium yesterday, bringing the Olympics to the Greek capital for the first time since the modern games began in 1896.
``We're giving back to the Greeks what they gave to us,'' International Olympic Committee member Jacques Rogge said. ``The extra value of the Greek tradition made the difference.''
The decision set off celebrations in the streets of Athens, where young people linked arms in traditional Greek dances near the Acropolis and motorists honked in joy. Some of the jubilant Athenians said the decision was a sweet payback for Greece's devastating loss to Atlanta for the 1996 Centennial Games. The sentimental factor produced a surprisingly large victory for Athens over Rome, its main rival and considered the favorite.
ARREST: SUSPECT IN BOMBING Hours before Stockholm, Sweden, lost its bid to hold the 2004 Olympics, police made an arrest in the bombings that might have hurt the city's chances for the games. Police grabbed a 26-year-old man they said was about to blow up a statue which was a symbol for Stockholm's bid.
