There will likely be armed security personnel on buses carrying athletes to and from their events at the Athens Olympic Games, a Canadian Olympic official said yesterday as the Olympic community was rocked by news of three predawn explosions that tore into a police station in the Greek capital.

"It will be similar to Salt Lake City in 2002, where some of the bus drivers were actually police officers," said Mark Lowry, the Canadian Olympic Committee's executive director of sport.

Lowry said confidential security measures are being drawn up by the RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Department of National Defence to guard the Canadian team, expected to number 275 athletes and 200 support staff.

"Each Canadian athlete will also be equipped with a radio or phone," he said. "We have an emergency program for reaching athletes and telling them what to do and where to stay if something [terrorism] happens. We're organized to respond quickly and efficiently."

Chris Rudge, the COC's chief executive officer, said last night that security is the organization's No..1 priority, but it did not want to overreact to early news of the Athens bombings. "However, we won't stand in the way of a personal decision if someone elects not to go to the Games over fears for their safety," he said.

There is no insurance against terrorism or acts of God, said the COC's chief operations officer, Lou Ragagnin. "We have every type of insurance possible, for accidents and general liability," he said, "and we're even covered somewhat [for lost revenues] by the insurance bought by the International Olympic Committee in case the Games are cancelled.

"But acts of terrorism are a specific exclusion."

Risks of terrorism may cause some rethinking on the part of athletes.

"It's definitely got caught up in my head," said Venus Williams, the Olympic tennis defending gold medalist, who has said she is looking forward to competing in Athens.

"I'll just hope for the best and say my prayers — for everyone in general," the American star said yesterday from the German Open in Berlin.

It will take more than yesterday's blasts to scare Canada's Daniel Igali from defending his wrestling gold medal, however. The 30-year-old Nigerian-born star of the Sydney Games is going to Athens with his eyes wide open — and looking over his shoulder. Igali may be more knowledgeable about terrorist dangers than any team member.

"I'm writing my thesis on terrorism," the Simon Fraser University criminology student said in an interview from Surrey, B.C. "I'll be concerned, and looking around, but it won't be my preoccupation. If a suicide bomber is willing to die, there's nothing you can do that makes it perfectly safe."

The 100-day countdown to the Olympic homecoming in Athens was shattered by three consecutive dynamite explosions over 45 minutes that tore into a police station in the downtown Kalithea section of the city.

No group claimed responsibility immediately, but authorities in Athens said it was more likely the work of local leftists than an international terrorist act.

The explosions triggered worldwide concerns among national Olympic organizations about terrorism at the Games, which will run from Aug. 13 to 29. The secretary-general of the Australian Olympic Committee, Bob Elphinston, said security is a priority for his country's mission, "and we wouldn't stand in the way of any athlete deciding not to go."

Australia is part of a seven-country security advisory panel for Athens that includes the United States, Britain and France.

The bombings resulted in a change of plans for at least one athlete's family. Australian basketball player Rachel Sporn said yesterday she will compete at the Games, but cancelled plans to take her infant daughter along.

"The threat of terrorism has basically made our decision for us," Sporn told an Adelaide newspaper.

On Monday, the IOC is to begin its final review of Athens's preparations, which have been beset by construction delays and other glitches. Security, however, remains the foremost issue, with a budget of more than $1.2-billion (U.S.). Greek military personnel will outnumber athletes at the Games 4 to 1.

Greece's anti-terrorist units took over the investigation yesterday afternoon. Police said foot patrols and other surveillance will be increased.

Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis called the bombing "an isolated incident which does not affect whatsoever the safety of the Olympic preparation."

"I don't think panic is created by this kind of small incident," Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni said in Paris, where she was promoting the city. She is particularly sensitive to the terrorist situation. Her first husband died as the result of a terrorist bomb.

Thomas Bach, a vice-president of the IOC, expressed the reality that exists at any large event: "We can only repeat openly that 100 per cent security doesn't exist."

The COC's Lowry said: "We want to bring the level of concern down for the athletes so they can focus on their performance, not security issue."

He said the COC and its security advisers will continually review plans up to the Games. "We'll know the places where we are staying and advise athletes where it's safe to walk and where to avoid."

"We're spending a lot of time on security," Rudge said. "We're monitoring the situation in Athens . With more information, we're making more educated decisions. We have to remember when the Olympic Games are on, all the attention will be on the athletes, the Games, the venues. ..... and there is less likelihood of something happening to an athlete than in the general population."

In September, similar timed blasts damaged a judicial complex in Athens and injured one police officer. The twin bombings, spaced 20 minutes apart, were claimed by a group calling itself Revolutionary Struggle and believed to be a protest against crackdowns that toppled the November 17 terrorist cell.

With a report from Associated Press