The eyes of the world focused on the skills of a small Nayland firm as the Olympics staged the most spectacular opening ceremony in the Games' history.

An astonishing five billion TV viewers tuned in to see the dazzling display set on a vast artificial lake in Athens' Olympic Stadium.

But it was Nayland firm Geosynthetic Technology (GT) which made the biggest Olympic-sized lake ever seen possible.

Proud GT chairman John Alexander was thrilled with the stunning showpiece.

"It was everything we expected and more," he said.

"Seeing it on the television was very impressive. We do feel very proud."

A team of GT experts had flown out to Greece to create the lake.

The top-secret project was so hush-hush they were barred from even taking photographs.

Mr Alexander said there were some nerves as the opening ceremony got under way, but everything was all right on the night.

Published Monday August 16, 2004

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