That the modern olympics were based on a concept from ancient Greece is not denied, but to claim ownership or copyright is purile.

What next? World parliament in Athens?

I would like to see the Olympics become harder to access than Greg Norman's wedding, with a complete ban on the media even reporting that they couldn't get access to it.

With at least half of of the TV and radio news being taken up with sport every night, and the reporting of everything that happens to a sporting 'icon' in the main news, we don't need the Olympics at all.

The modern Olympics has pretty much always been a propaganda exercise for the government of which ever country has hosted it. Given that nationalism is virtually compulsory and anything less than getting a gold medal is treachery it is hard to see an improvement the way things are.

Maybe it would be better if Greece was to take it on permanently. But would the people of Greece want such an expense? Also, the hysterical nationalism as "our heroes" win gold medals would be still there. You get that sort of thing with the Ashes (permanently held in either Britain or Australia).

Return the Olympics to its traditional state - naked men competing in a small number of sports. That'd ensure limited coverage (HaHa!).

The Games permanently in Greece? What a joke! At the last Games in Athens the locals treated the event with yawning boredom, taking the opportunity of holidays to take off somewhere else. On top of that the preparation was shambolic and the organisation nowhere near as good as Sydney.

The sight of empty stands and deserted spectator areas on the route of blue ribbon events like the marathon (itself a Greek word, and invention) are some of the most memorable images of the Athens Games.

Sounds like a good idea, and a welcome boost to the Geek economy.