2000 Summer Olympics

The 2000 Summer Olympics or the Millennium Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were the Summer Olympic Games held in 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Preliminary matches- from September 13

Although the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until September 15, the football competitions began with preliminary matches on September 13. Among the pre-ceremony fixtures, host nation Australia lost 1-0 to Italy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Day 1 - September 15, the Opening Ceremony

Main article: 2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

File:Sydney-Olympics-Opening-Ceremony.jpg

The cover for the DVD of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics showing fireworks in the background and the lighting of the Olympic Flame by Cathy Freeman (who subsequently won the 400 m title). Cathy Freeman is a major role model for Indigenous Australians

Highlights of Cultural Display

The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the Australian pastural heritage of the muster (or "roundup", in which the stockmen gather together the livestock from the vast areas of an Australian outback sheep or cattle station), symbolising the drawing together of people from across the world. This was introduced by a lone rider, Steve Jefferys, and his rearing Australian Stock Horse Ammo. At the cracking of Jefferys' stockwhip, a further 120 riders entered the Stadium, their stock horses performing intricate steps, including forming the five Olympic Rings, to the music by Bruce Rowland, based on the theme which he had previously composed for the 1982 film The Man From Snowy River.

The Australian National Anthem was sung, the first verse by Human Nature and the second by Julie Anthony.

The ceremony continued, showing many aspects of the land and its people:- the affinity of the mainly coastal-dwelling Australians with the sea that surrounds the "Island Continent", the indigenous occupation of the land, the coming of the first European settlers, the continued immigration from many nations and the rural industry on which the economy of the nation was built, including a display representing the harshness of rural life based on the paintings of Sir Sidney Nolan. Two memorable scenes were the representation of the "Heart" of the country by 200 Aboriginal women from Central Australia who danced up "the mighty spirit of God to protect the Games" and the overwhelmingly noisy representation of the construction industry by hundreds of tap-dancing teenagers.

Because the wife of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC President, was seriously ill and not able to accompany her husband to the Olympics, former Australian Olympic Champion swimmer, Dawn Fraser, accompanied Samaranch during the Australian cultural display, explaining to him some of the more obscure cultural references.

Formal presentation

A record 199 nations entered the stadium, the only missing IOC member being Afghanistan (suspended due to the Taliban regime's prohibition against practicing any kind of sports). Most remarkable was the entering of North and South Korea as one team, using a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korea peninsula; the two teams would compete separately, however. Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations. Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag. The Governor-General, Sir William Deane, opened the games.

The Olympic Flag was carried around the arena by eight former Australian Olympic champions: Bill Roycroft, Murray Rose, Liane Tooth, Gillian Rolton, Marjorie Jackson, Lorraine Crapp, Michael Wenden and Nick Green. During the raising of the Olympics Flag, the Olympic Hymn was sung by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.

The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame. Former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott brought the Olympic Flame into the stadium. Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic champions: Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland (later Shirley Strickland de la Hunty), Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman, who lit the flame in the cauldron within a circle of fire. This was followed by a fireworks display.

Some significant participants

The young girl singer, who featured in the early part of the opening ceremony, was Nikki Webster. Other musical performers were Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham (who sang the duet "Dare to Dream" while walking among the athletes), Vanessa Amorosi (who sang "Heroes" while a huge cloth was lowered down to cover the athletes - with sporting images and the image of a white dove of peace then being displayed on the cloth) and Tina Arena (who sang "The Flame"). There was also a massed Millennium Marching Band of 2000 musicians - with 1000 Australian musicians, the remaining 1000 musicians being from other countries around the world. (the massed band was so large that six conductors were required for the segment).

The English-language announcer for the Opening Ceremony was Australian actor John Stanton, while the Channel 7 narrator for the Indigenous section of was Australian Aboriginal actor Ernie Dingo.

Events

Day 2 - September 16

Gold medalist Nancy Johnson (centre) of the U.S., raises her hands with silver medalist Cho-Hyun Kang (left), of Korea, and bronze winner Jing Gao (right), of China, during the first medal ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games.

The first medals of the Games were awarded in the women's 10 metre air rifle competition, which was won by Nancy Johnson of the United States.

The Triathlon made its Olympic debut with the women's race. Set in the surroundings of the iconic Sydney Opera House, Australian-born Brigitte McMahon representing Switzerland swam, cycled and ran to the first gold medal in the sport, beating the favoured home athletes.

The first star of the Games was Ian Thorpe. The 17-year-old Australian first set a new world record in the 400 m freestyle final before competing in an exciting 4 x 100 m freestyle final. Swimming the last leg, Thorpe passed the leading Americans and arrived in a new world record time, two tenths of a second ahead of the Americans. In the same event for women, the Americans also broke the world record, finishing ahead of the Netherlands and Sweden.

Samaranch had to leave for home, as his wife was severely ill. Upon arrival, his wife had already died. Samaranch returned to Sydney four days later. The Olympic flag was flown at half-staff during the period as a sign of respect to Samaranch's wife.

Day 3 - September 17

Canadian Simon Whitfield sprinted away in the last 100 m of the men's triathlon, becoming the inaugural winner in the event.

On the cycling track, Robert Bartko beat fellow German Jens Lehmann in the individual pursuit, setting a new Olympic Record. Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel set a world record in the semi-finals the same event for women.

In the swimming pool, American Tom Dolan beat the world record in the 400 m medley, successfully defending the title he won in Atlanta four years prior. Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn also clocked a new world record, beating her own time in the 100 m butterfly final to win by more than a second.

Day 4 - September 18

The main event for the Australians on the fourth day of the Games was the 200 m freestyle. Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband had broken the world record in the semi-finals, taking it from the new Australian hero Ian Thorpe, who came close to the world record in his semi-final heat. As the final race finished, Van den Hoogenband's time was exactly the same as in the semi-finals, finishing ahead of Thorpe by only half a second.

China won the gold medal in the men's team all-around gymnastics competition, after being the runner-up in the previous two Olympics. The other medals were taken by Ukraine and Russia, respectively.

Zijlaard-van Moorsel lived up to the expectations set by her world record in cycling in the semis by winning the gold medal.

Day 9 - September 23

By rowing in the winning coxless four, Steve Redgrave of Great Britain became a member of a select group who had won gold medals at five consecutive Olympics.

The swimming 4 x 100-meter medley relay of B.J. Bedford, Megan Quann (Jendrick), Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres became the first women's relay under 4-minutes, swimming 3:58 and setting a world record, claiming the gold medal for the United States.

Day 11 - September 25

Track and field events at the Olympic stadium during the 2000 Olympics

Australian Cathy Freeman won the 400 metre final in front of a jubilant Sydney crowd at the Olympic Stadium, ahead of Lorraine Graham of Jamaica and Katharine Merry of Great Britain. Cathy Freeman's win made her the first competitor in Olympic Games history to light the Olympic Flame and then go on to win a Gold Medal.

Day 13 - September 28

The Canadian flag at athletes' village is lowered to half-staff as Canadian athletes pay tribute to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau after hearing of his passing in Montreal (Because of the time difference, it was September 29 in Sydney when Trudeau died).

Day 15 - September 30

Cameroon won a historic gold medal over Spain in the Men's Olympic Football Final at the Olympic Stadium. The game went to a penalty shootout.

Day 16 - October 1

Olympic colours on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Fair Use, NSW Board of Tourism

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremony,

"I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever."

Yvonne Kenny was the soprano who sang the Olympic Hymn at the Closing Ceremony. The ceremony featured performing artists such as Jimmy Barnes, Midnight Oil, Kylie Minogue, Slim Dusty, Christine Anu, Nikki Webster, John Paul Young, Melbourne-based singer Vanessa Amorosi and pop duo Savage Garden.

The Games were then handed over to the city of their birthplace, Athens, where they would again take place in 2004. The ceremony concluded with a huge fireworks display on Sydney Harbour.

Sports

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Archery Athletics Baseball Basketball Badminton Boxing Canoe/Kayak Cycling Diving Equestrian Fencing

Football Gymnastics Handball Hockey Judo Modern pentathlon Rowing Sailing Shooting Softball

Swimming Synchronized swimming Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Water polo Weightlifting Wrestling

• Wheelchair Racing (Demonstration Event)

Medal count

Main article: 2000 Summer Olympics medal count

These are the top medal-collecting nations for the 2000 Games. (Host country is highlighted)

1	United States	40	24	33	97
2	Russia	32	28	28	88
3	China	28	16	15	59
4	Australia	16	25	17	58
5	Germany	13	17	26	56
6	France	13	14	11	38
7	Italy	13	8	13	34
8	Netherlands	12	9	4	25
9	Cuba	11	11	7	29
10	Great Britain	11	10	7	28

Participating nations

Participating countries

Articles about Sydney Summer Olympics by nation:

Albania  Algeria  American Samoa  Andorra  Angola  Antigua and Barbuda  Argentina  Armenia  Aruba  Australia  Austria  Azerbaijan  Bahamas  Bahrain  Bangladesh  Barbados  Belarus  Belgium  Belize  Benin  Bermuda  Bhutan  Bolivia  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Botswana  Brazil  British Virgin Islands  Brunei  Bulgaria  Burkina Faso  Burundi  Cambodia  Cameroon  Canada  Cape Verde  Cayman Islands  Central African Republic  Chad  Chile  China  Chinese Taipei  Colombia  Comoros  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Republic of the Congo  Cook Islands  Costa Rica  Ivory Coast  Croatia  Cuba  Cyprus

Czech Republic  Denmark  Djibouti  Dominica  Dominican Republic  Ecuador  Egypt  El Salvador  Equatorial Guinea  Eritrea  Estonia  Ethiopia  Fiji  Finland  France  Gabon  The Gambia  Georgia  Germany  Ghana  Great Britain  Greece  Grenada  Guam  Guatemala  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Guyana  Haiti  Honduras  Hong Kong  Hungary  Iceland  India  Indonesia  Iran  Iraq  Ireland  Israel  Italy  Jamaica  Japan  Jordan  Kazakhstan  Kenya  South Korea  North Korea  Kuwait  Kyrgyzstan  Laos

Latvia  Lebanon  Lesotho  Liberia  Libya  Liechtenstein  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Macedonia  Madagascar  Malawi  Malaysia  Maldives  Mali  Malta  Mauritania  Mauritius  Mexico  Federated States of Micronesia  Moldova  Monaco  Mongolia  Morocco  Mozambique  Myanmar  Namibia  Nauru  Nepal  Netherlands  Netherlands Antilles  New Zealand  Nicaragua  Niger  Nigeria  Norway  Oman  Pakistan  Palau  Palestine  Panama  Papua New Guinea  Paraguay  Peru  Philippines  Poland  Portugal  Puerto Rico  Qatar  Romania  Russia

Rwanda  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  São Tomé and Príncipe  Samoa  San Marino  Saudi Arabia  Senegal  Seychelles  Sierra Leone  Singapore  Slovakia  Slovenia  Solomon Islands  Somalia  South Africa  Spain  Sri Lanka  Sudan  Suriname  Swaziland  Sweden  Switzerland  Syria  Tajikistan  Tanzania  Thailand  Togo  Tonga  Trinidad and Tobago  Tunisia  Turkey  Turkmenistan  Uganda  Ukraine  United Arab Emirates  United States  Uruguay  Uzbekistan  Vanuatu  Venezuela  Vietnam  Virgin Islands  Yemen  FR Yugoslavia  Zambia  Zimbabwe

In addition, there were four Timorese Individual Olympic Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Media coverage

The games were covered by the following broadcasters:

• Seven Network (Australia)
• BBC (Great Britain)
• NBC (United States)
• SVT (Sweden)
• CBC and TSN (Canada)
• NHK (Japan)
• ARD and ZDF (Germany)
• France Télévisions (France 2 and France 3) and Canal + (France)

Running up to the games, a lesser-known Australian comedy satire The Games was broadcast in Australia only. It featured a spoof of the issues and events that the top-level organisers and bureaucrats suffered in the lead up to the games.

NBC presented over 400+ hours on their main and sister stations, CNBC and MSNBC. The downside of the American coverage was that it was presented on tape delay rather than live due to the 15-hour time difference. The lone exception was the gold medal game in Men's Basketball, which featured the U.S. defeating France 85-75. The game was televised live in primetime on Saturday, September 30th(EDT), which was the afternoon of Sunday, October 1st in Australia. In their 2004 coverage, NBC and its sister networks presented live coverage throughout the morning and afternoon, while showing marquee events pre-taped in prime time.

A poignant part of the media coverage happened in the Canadian broadcast. On September 28, the CBC was airing the Olympics, when all of a sudden, the network's chief correspondent, Peter Mansbridge, broke in and said:

"Hello from Toronto, I'm Peter Mansbridge. Sad news to report from Montreal...Pierre Elliott Trudeau, prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1984 with one brief interruption in 1979, has passed away..."

People in Canada who wanted to see the Olympics between then and the closing ceremonies had to turn to TSN because the CBC was broadcasting news coverage related to the passing and state funeral of the former prime minister.

Organisation

SOCOG organisational structure circa 1998 - five groups and 33 divisions reporting to the CEO are organised primarily along functional lines with only a limited number of divisions (eg Interstate Football and Villages) anticipating a venue focussed design.

SOCOG organisational structure circa 1999 - functional divisions and precinct/venue streams are organised in a matrix structure linked to the Main Operations Centre (MOC). Some functions such as Project Management (in the Games Coordination group) continue to exist largely outside this matrix structure.

File:National route.jpg

Torch relayTemplate:Replacethisimage

Bodies responsible for the Olympics

A number of quasi-government bodies were responsible for the construction, organisation and execution of the Sydney Games. These included:

• SOCOG the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, primarily responsible for the staging of the Games
• OCA the Olympic Coordination Authority, primarily responsible for construction and oversight
• ORTA the Olympic Roads and Transport Authority
• OSCC the Olympic Security Command Centre
• OIC the Olympic Intelligence Centre
• JTF Gold the Australian Defence Force Joint Taskforce Gold
• SOBO the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (nominally part of SOCOG)

These organisations worked closely together and with other bodies such as:

• the International Olympic Committee (or IOC)
• the Australian Olympic Committee (or AOC)
• the other 197 National Olympic Committees (or NOCs)
• the 33 International Sporting Federations (or IFs)
• all three levels of Australian government (federal, state and local)
• dozens of official sponsor and hundreds of official supplier companies

These bodies are often collectively referred to as the "Olympic Family".

Organisation of the Paralympics

Organisation of the 2000 Summer Paralympics was the responsibility of SPOC the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee. However much of the planning and operation of the Paralympic Games was outsourced to SOCOG such that most operational programmes planned both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Other Olympic events

Organisation of the Olympic Games included not only the actual sporting events but also the management (and sometimes construction) of the sporting venues and surrounding precincts, the organisation of the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival and Olympic torch relay. The route the relay took is shown here:

Phases of the Olympic project

The staging of the Olympics were treated as a project on a vast scale, with the project broken into several broad phases:

• 1993 to 1996 – positioning
• 1997 – going operational
• 1998 – procurement/venuisation
• 1999 – testing/refinement
• 2000 - implementation
• 2001 - post implementation and wind-down

SOCOG organisational design

The internal organisation of SOCOG evolved over the phases of the project and changed, sometimes radically, several times.

In late 1998 the design was principally functional. The top two tiers below the CEO consisted of five groups (managed by Group General Managers and the Deputy CEO) and twenty divisions (managed by divisional General Managers), which in turn were further broken up into programmes and sub programmes or projects.

In 1999 functional areas (FAs) broke up into geographic precinct and venue teams (managed by Precinct Managers and Venue Managers) with functional area staff reporting to both the FA manager and the venue manager. Ie, SOCOG moved to a matrix structure. The Interstate Football division extant in 1998 was the first of these geographically based venue teams.

Volunteer program

The origins of the volunteer program for Sydney 2000 dates back to the bid, as early as 1992.

On December 17 1992, a group of Sydney citizens, interested in the prospect of hosting the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, gathered for a meeting at Sports House, at Wentworth Park in Sydney.

In the period leading up to 1999, after Sydney had won the bid, the small group of volunteers grew from approximately 42 to around 500. These volunteers became known as Pioneer Volunteers. The Pioneer Volunteer program was managed internally by SOCOG's Volunteer Services Department. Some of the Pioneer Volunteers still meet every four months, an unseen legacy of the games which brought together a community spirit not seen before.

Mascots

File:Mascots.JPG

The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were:

• "Olly" the Kookaburra — 'Olly' was named for 'Olympics'
• "Syd" the Platypus — 'Syd' was named for 'Sydney', the host city for the Games.
• "Millie" the Echidna — 'Millie' was named for 'Millennium'

There was also an unofficial mascot. For information, see The Dream with Roy and HG.

The Bronze Medals

File:Australian 1 cent coin.JPG

Until the end of 1991 [1], Australia minted both a:

• 1 cent coin — featuring a Feathertail Glider on the reverse side of the coin
• 2 cent coin — featuring a Frill-necked Lizard on the reverse side of the coin

File:Australian 2 cent coin.JPG

In 1992, these Australian coins began to be removed from circulation. People were urged to exchange them for coins still in circulation.

Both the 1 cent coins and 2 cent coins were then melted down and turned into bronze medals for the 2000 Olympics.

Award

• The International Olympic Committee awarded Sydney and its inhabitants with the "Pierre de Coubertin Trophy" in recognition of the collaboration and happiness shown by the people of Sydney during the event to all the athletes and visitors around the world.

Bidding process

Sydney won the right to host the games on September 23, 1993 after being selected over Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester, by the final vote, in an election in Monte Carlo.

2000 Summer Olympics bidding results
City	NOC Name	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
Sydney	Australia	30	30	37	45
Beijing	China	32	37	40	43
Manchester	Great Britain	11	13	11	-
Berlin	Germany	9	9	-	-
Istanbul	Turkey	7	-	-	-

Trivia

• Mary Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik met each other in Sydney during the Olympics.

• 2000 is both the year of these Olympics and the postcode of its city.

Fictional reference

The James Bond character in the film Die Another Day, Miranda Frost, won a gold medal in fencing. It was referred to by Madonna's character Verity, who told Bond that she won the gold in Sydney.

See also

• Olympic Games
• 2000 Summer Paralympics
• International Olympic Committee
• IOC country codes

External links

• Sydney Olympic Games Information
• Sydney Olympic Park
• Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony - Australian Special Events
• Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony - the Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad
• Australian Olympic Committee site on 2000 Sydney Olympics - includes information and photo gallery
• IOC Site on 2000 Summer Olympics
• Sydney 2000 Games Collection at the Powerhouse Museum - information and audio files
• Sydney 2000 Olympic Games information
• A Look Back at the Sydney Olympics and Paralympics - Australian Bureau of Statistics
• 2000 Sydney Olympics - Culture and Recreation
• Satellite view of 2000 Sydney Olympics sites
• Sydney 2000 Olympic Games - archived websites in PANDORA
• Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games Photo Map - Photomap of Venues, Events and Construction leading up to Sydney 2000
• Volunteers Website - Website maintained by and for Sydney 2000 Volunteer Alumni