Germans laugh at 'Olympic disaster'

Venue: An aerial photograph of the Olympic stadium in Stratford, east London. Germans say it will host a 'soggy mess'

They have a reputation for faultless efficiency and planning events with meticulous detail.

So perhaps we should be worried that Germans already believe London 2012 will be an 'Olympic-sized disaster'.

Germany's leading news magazine has launched an attack on Britain’s preparations for the Olympics, poking fun at facilities and warning that the Games are destined to go down in history as a gigantic 'soggy mess'.

The article in Der Spiegel trashes numerous aspects about the Games, from the 'clattering' Tube system that will transport most spectators to Olympic venues to pavements that are 'too narrow' and a passport control situation at Heathrow bordering on chaotic.

'London and the Olympic Games are clearly not made for each other,' it said.

'Visitors will need determination and, most of all, patience to reach the venues at all. And, for the locals, it all can’t end soon enough.'

The article claims that the Olympics, which will run from July 27 to August 12, will be an 'arduous obstacle course for everyone'.

'Starting this week, the world’s biggest financial centre will be gripped by a special condition usually only seen in wartime,' it reads.

'Its 7.8million inhabitants are about to be joined by an average of 1million additional visitors per day.

'The already overloaded public-transportation system will be burdened with an additional 3 million fares per day.

'A total of 109 miles of the city’s streets will be closed off to normal traffic.

'Almost twice as many soldiers as Britain has in Afghanistan, a helicopter carrier and special forces units armed to the teeth will make the city look like it’s under siege.'

The Germans, whose last efforts at hosting the Olympic Games saw Israeli athletes murdered in Munich in a security fiasco in 1972, then criticise an aspect beyond our control - the weather.

It reads: 'And then there’s England’s classic bad weather, which has some wondering whether the Summer Games will turn into a fiasco.

德国人素来以完美的办事效率和严密的筹划著称。

也许我们该担心德国人已然认为伦敦2012奥运会将成为一场“奥林匹克规模的灾难”。

德国的主流新闻杂志已经对英国的奥运筹备展开攻击，取笑伦敦的奥运设施，并警告说伦敦奥运会注定会以“浸水的大烂摊子”之名载入奥运史册。

这篇刊登在德国明镜杂志上的文章对伦敦奥运会的诸多方面嗤之以鼻，从将运送多数乘客到达奥运场馆的“嘈杂”地铁，到“过窄”的人行道，再到伦敦希思罗机场的入境护照管制所造成的混乱，无一幸免。

该文章称：“伦敦和奥运会双方很明显都不适于对方。”

“游客们要得以最终到达场馆要有决心，最重要的是还要有耐心。而且对当地人来说，这种情况一时半会儿可结束不了。”

该文章还说，从7月27日开始到8月12日结束的伦敦奥运会将成为“每个人都需要经历的一段艰巨的超越障碍训练”。

“从本周开始，这个世界著名的金融中心将进入一种通常只在战争时期才出现的特殊状态。”

“780万伦敦居民平均每天将面临100万外来游客。”

“早已不堪重负的公共交通系统每天还将额外负荷300万名乘客。”

“总长为109英里的城市街道将停止正常交通。

“英国调用了其阿富汗派遣部队两倍之多的士兵作为安保人员，派出一艘直升机航母，还启用了全副武装的特种部队，这将令伦敦看起来像是处于围困之中。”

德国上次举办奥运会还是在1972年，由于安保措施的惨败，导致以色列运动员在慕尼黑被杀害，如今，他们倒在批评一个超出英国控制范围的因素——天气。

文章中说：“还有英格兰臭名昭著的坏天气，这不禁让人有些怀疑本届夏季运动会是否会是一场惨败。”

Vocabulary:

meticulous: 严密的；一丝不苟的

trash: 把……视为废物

arduous: 艰巨的；费力的

fare: 乘客

fiasco: 完全失败；可耻的失败