The first record of the ongoing Athens Olympics was actually made by the world's insurance companies, with a total insured amount of one billion US dollars for the Games.

The largest premium was purchased by the International Olympic Committee, which for the first time bought a 6.8 million dollars catastrophe cover for the event.

The most popular insurance covers emergency risks, such as delay or cancellation. The threat of terrorism affecting the games is an important factor in this.

The main insurance companies involved are from Britain, Greece and the United States.

(CRI online August 24, 2004)