July. 29, 2004

• Listen to Full Audio Interview There's something in the blood of certain athletes that's helping them get to the Olympics. It's not performance-enhancing drugs, it's Greek ancestry. Greek officials have recruited American athletes with even trace amounts of Hellenic heritage to play for their side. Some observers are crying foul. Correspondent Elizabeth Wynne Johnson checked in with one Northwest athlete who answered the call. IN ATHENS JUST A FEW DAYS FROM NOW 22-YEAR OLD WALKER LOSENO'S LIFE-LONG DREAM WILL COME TRUE. Walker: "I'm not sure if it's really hit me or not - it comes in waves sometimes. I don't even think about it and sometimes I'm like, oh my God..." WALKER IS FROM THE SEATTLE AREA. BUT SHE'S ONE OF MANY PROUD AMERICANS WHO WILL MARCH INTO OLYMPIC STADIUM WEARING THE COLORS AND FLYING THE FLAG... OF GREECE. Walker: "It's just crazy too because of course I'm American and I've always been rooting for them, and now I'm totally on the opposite side..." WALKER'S BEEN OVERSEAS FOR WEEKS NOW, AS A MEMBER OF THE GREEK WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM. SHE ANSWERED AN APPEAL ON THE INTERNET FROM THE GREEK NATIONAL TEAM, SEEKING PLAYERS. SHE'D BEEN PLAYING FOR GONZAGA UNIVERSITY, AND HER COACH, SHANNON STILES, ENCOURAGED HER TO GO FOR IT. Stiles: "Walker is a pure athlete - so in terms of her playing for the Greek national team, it sort of makes me laugh, because she is like the epitome of the Greek mythology- Greek goddess-type thing. She is absolutely chiseled from stone. " GREECE WAS ABLE TO FIELD ITS OWN TEAM ON THE MEN'S SIDE, BUT HAD TO LOOK THOSE OF GREEK ANCESTRY TO FILL OUT THE WOMEN'S ROSTER. Stiles: "The Greek women had not had the experience that kids in the United States have had playing soccer... so they're jump-starting the sport for those women over there, and I think will do a lot for women's sports in Greece, so I'm fully in support of that concept. I think it's a neat thing. " OLYMPIC RULES ALLOW THE HOST NATION TO FIELD A TEAM IN ANY EVENT IT CHOOSES. GREECE MAY BE THE BIRTHPLACE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION AND EVEN THE OLYMPICS THEMSELVES, BUT THEY'RE NEAR THE BACK OF THE PACK IN SEVERAL SPORTS - LIKE WOMEN'S SOCCER. AND ESPECIALLY BASEBALL. GREEK OFFICIALS SET AN UNUSUALLY LOW THRESHOLD FOR OUTSIDERS TO QUALIFY FOR THEIR NATIONAL TEAMS. Reilly: "You don't have to be Greek, you don't have to be born in Greece... as long as your great grand-parents - one of them - was born in Greece, you're on the team!" SPORTS ILLUSTRATED COLUMNIST RICK REILLY IS AMONG THOSE WAVING A PENALTY FLAG. Reilly: "They're gonna field teams in sports that they don't have any business fielding a team in. I mean, baseball - they wouldn't know baseball from a can of Souvlaki." 18 OF THE 24 PLAYERS ON THE GREEK BASEBALL TEAM ARE AMERICAN. EARLIER THIS MONTH, THE COACH REPORTEDLY THREATENED TO QUIT OUT OF DISGUST OVER LEADING A GREEK TEAM WITH SO FEW GREEKS ON IT. REILLY QUESTIONS WHETHER IT'S ALL IN THE SPIRIT OF GAMES - Reilly: "When they call you and say, hey do you want to play for the Greek Olympic team and you say yes - you should have to sing right then the national anthem of that country... " Music: Greek Anthem Reilly: "And if you can't, then you don't belong in the Olympics with that jersey on your back." THE GREEK NATIONAL ANTHEM IS HYMN TO FREEDOM. TO ATHLETES LIKE WALKER LOSENO, EVEN A SMALL AMOUNT OF GREEK BLOOD IS A SOURCE OF IDENTITY AND PRIDE. Walker: "I'm only a quarter Greek, but I've always thought of myself as just Greek - so it's always been strong in my life and it's just been an awesome experience to come here and actually see it for real and experience it." THE VERY FIRST EVENT OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES IS THE WOMEN'S SOCCER MATCH BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GREECE. ON THAT DAY IN SPOKANE, WALKER'S COLLEGE TEAMMATES WILL BE WATCHING. THERE WILL LIKELY BE DIVIDED LOYALTIES AT GONZAGA UNIVERSITY. BUT PLENTY OF CHEERING. I'M ELIZABETH WYNNE JOHNSON REPORTING.