How To Go For the Gold.(planning to go to the 2004 Olympics in Athens?)(Directory)

The hottest ticket in the world next summer will be a seat to the first Summer Olympic Games to hit Athens, Greece, since 1896. Organizers were able to fill only about half the 600,000 requests they received for the first batch of tickets to go on sale, released in Europe earlier this spring.

The second phase begins Oct. 1, 2003. Better start planning now: it's unlikely many good seats--let alone hotel rooms--will be left by the time the Games roll around. Here's a Tip Sheet primer on how to plan a truly golden vacation.

Getting the tickets: In most countries, Internet use is essential to gaining one of the 3 million coveted seats that will be made available to the general public. Olympic organizers are relying heavily on the Web to accomplish most tasks, from ticket reservations to hotel-room bookings. Check out tickets.athens2004.com, or for more general information, click on the visitor-information link at www.2004.gr.

If you live in the European economic zone you can also reserve tickets from an authorized ticket agent or from a branch of the Greek Alpha Bank. Residents outside Europe must go through their national Olympic committees.

For Africa: 237-2-23-23-73.

For the Americas: e-mail odepa@oem.com.mx, 525-55-545-01-85.

For Asia: ocasia.org, 965-573-49-72.