Olympic-sized security costs

last updated 8 January 2015

Athens

The total bill for security at the Olympic Games will exceed $1.5 billion, Greek officials said this week. The installation of 1,400 surveillance cameras alone, a small part of the planned security measures, is costing $320 million—nearly the entire cost of protecting the 2000 Summer Olympics, in Sydney. A blimp carrying chemical-detection equipment and high-resolution cameras will float over the city during the events, at a price tag of $2.4 million. NATO will provide air and sea patrols, and U.S. special forces troops will guard the athletes’ training grounds on the island of Crete.