The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was the second time that the Summer Olympics were held in the Southern Hemisphere, the first one being in Melbourne in 1956, and as a result of this location and the dates, took place in early spring.

Host city selection[link]

Sydney won the right to host the Games on 24 September 1993, after being selected over Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester in four rounds of voting, at the 101st IOC Session in Monte Carlo, Monaco.^[1]

2000 Summer Olympics bidding results[2]
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	—	—	—

The main stadium hosts concerts and sporting events every year including the annual National Rugby League Grand Final, as well as being the home ground of two NRL teams, the Canterbury Bulldogs and South Sydney Rabbitohs and the New South Wales Blues State of Origin team. The Aquatic centre became a public swimming centre. The Olympic site itself has been used for the final race of the V8 Supercars Championship (Sydney 500) since 2009.

Costs[link]

In 2002, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6.6 billion, with a net cost to the public between A$1.7 and A$2.4 billion.^[3][4]

It has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2.1 billion has been shaved from public consumption. Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years 2000, foreign tourism to NSW grew by less than tourism to Australia as a whole. A "multiplier" effect on broader economic development is not realised as a simple "multiplier" analysis fails to capture is that resources have to be redirected from elsewhere: the building of a stadium is at the expense of other public works such as extensions to hospitals. Building sporting venues does not add to the aggregate stock of productive capital in the years following the Games: "Equestrian centres, softball compounds and man-made rapids are not particularly useful beyond their immediate function."^[5] In the years after the games infrastructure issues have been of growing concern for citizens, especially those in the western suburbs of Sydney. Proposed rail links to Sydney's west are estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games.^{[citation needed]}

Preliminary matches – from 13 September[link]

Although the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until 15 September, the football competitions began with preliminary matches on 13 September. Among the pre-ceremony fixtures, host nation Australia lost 1–0 to Italy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Day 1 – 15 September[link]

Cultural display highlights[link]

The 2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony at Stadium Australia, on 15 September 2000.

The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the Australian pastoral heritage of the Australian stockmen and the importance of the stock horse in Australia's heritage.^[6] 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 a special Olympics version of the theme which Bruce Rowland 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 Fleet, 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 and member of the NSW state parliament, Dawn Fraser, accompanied Samaranch during the Australian cultural display, explaining to him some of the cultural references that are unfamiliar to non-Australians.

Formal presentation[link]

A record 199 nations entered the stadium, with a record 80 of them winning at least one medal. The only missing IOC member was Afghanistan (banned due to the extremist rule of the Taliban's oppression of women and its prohibition of sports).^{[citation needed]} The ceremony featured a unified entrance by the athletes of North and South Korea, using a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korean Peninsula. The two teams competed separately, however. Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations as Individual Olympic Athletes and marched directly before the Host country. Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag with country code IOA. 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 in Greek.

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. The planned spectacular climax to the ceremony was delayed by the technical glitch of a computer switch which malfunctioned, causing the sequence to shut down by giving a false reading. This meant that the Olympic flame was suspended in mid-air for about four minutes, rather than immediately rising up a water-covered ramp to the top of the stadium. When the cause of the problem was discovered, the program was overridden and the cauldron continued its course, and the ceremony concluded with a spectacular fireworks display.^[7] Despite his record achievements as an Australian sprinter, Peter Norman was not invited chiefly because he had participated in an anti-racial protest during the awards ceremony for the 200m race in the Mexico Olympic Games.^[8] During the Sydney Olympics, a reporter from The Washington Post found only one reference to Norman – an image on the side of a house in Redfern [a predominantly aboriginal area].^[9] The house may actually have been in Newtown, where a mural of the awards event known as 'Three Proud People' was painted in Leamington Lane facing the railway adjacent to Macdonaldtown Station (see Newtown area graffiti and street art).^[10]

Some significant participants[link]

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 Live Forever" 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), Christine Anu (who sang 'My Island Home') 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 the display was actor Ernie Dingo.

Events[link]

Day 2 – 16 September[link]

Gold medallist Nancy Johnson (centre) of the U.S., raises her hands with silver medallist Cho-Hyun Kang (left), of South 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, Brigitte McMahon representing Switzerland swam, cycled and ran to the first gold medal in the sport, beating the favoured home athletes such as Michelie Jones who won silver. McMahon only passed Jones in sight of the finish line.

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 – 17 September[link]

Canadian Simon Whitfield sprinted away in the last 100 metres 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 – 18 September[link]

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 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 7 – 21 September[link]

Controversy erupted at the Women's Gymnastics All-Around final, when gymnast after gymnast fell on the vault. Some gymnasts were physically injured, and all were shaken, but nothing was done to try to discover the reason most gymnasts were having severe problems. Finally, in the middle of the second round, it was determined that the vault horse had been set 5 cm too low – a small amount, possibly, but to these world-class athletes, enough of a difference to have thrown off their impeccable timing to the extent that true performance was impossible. This situation led directly to the elimination of Svetlana Khorkina from consideration as the top all-around gymnast.

Day 9 – 23 September[link]

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-metre 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 10 – 24 September[link]

Rulon Gardner, never a NCAA champion or a world medalist, beat Alexander Karelin of Russia to win gold in the super heavyweight class, Greco-Roman wrestling. Karelin had won gold in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta. Before this fight he had never lost in international competition, had been unbeaten in all competitions in 13 years, and had not surrendered a point in a decade.

Day 11 – 25 September[link]

Cathy Freeman after the 400 metre final

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. 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.

In a men's basketball pool match between the USA and France, the USA's Vince Carter made one of the most famous dunks in basketball history. After getting the ball off a steal, the 6'6"/1.98 m Carter drove to the basket, with 7'2"/2.18 m centre Frédéric Weis in his way. Carter jumped, spread his legs in midair, scraped Weis' head on the way up, and dunked. The French media dubbed the feat le dunk de la mort ("the dunk of death").

Day 14 – 28 September[link]

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 death in Montreal (Because of the time difference, it was 29 September in Sydney when Trudeau died). The Canadian flag flew at half-staff for the remainder of the Olympics, on orders from both IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, as the state funeral did not take place until 3 October.

Day 15 – 30 September[link]

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, which was won by Cameroon 5–3.^[11]

Day 16 – 1 October[link]

Olympic colours on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The last event of the games was the Mens Marathon, contested on a course that started in North Sydney. The event was won by Ethiopian Genzhnge Abera, with Eric Wananina second and Tesefe Tola, also of Ethiopia third. It was the first time since the 1968 Olympics that an Ethiopian had won the gold medal in this event.

The Closing Ceremony commenced with Christine Anu singing a stirring rendition of her hit song, Island Home. She performed with several Aboriginal dancers atop the Geodome Stage in the middle of the stadium, around which several hundred umbrella and lampbox kids created an image of Aboriginal dreamtime.

The Geodome Stage was used throughout the ceremony, which is a flat stage which is mechanically raised into the shape of a Geode.

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremony,^[12]

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

Subsequent Summer Olympics held in Athens and Beijing have been described by Samaranch's successor, Jacques Rogge, as "unforgettable, dream Games" and "truly exceptional" respectively – the practice of declaring games the "best ever" having been retired after the 2000 games.

The Olympic Hymn was sung by soprano Yvonne Kenny. The ceremony also featured performing artists such as Jimmy Barnes, INXS, Midnight Oil, Kylie Minogue, Slim Dusty, Christine Anu, Nikki Webster, John Paul Young, Men at Work, Melbourne-based singer Vanessa Amorosi, Tommy Emmanuel, and pop duo Savage Garden.

The Games were then handed over to their modern birthplace, Athens, which succeeded Sydney as Olympic host city. Two Greek flags were raised; one to honour the birthplace of the Olympics, and the other to honour Athens. The ceremony concluded with a huge fireworks display on Sydney Harbour. The fireworks display itself concluded with a very low flyover of Stadium Australia by an RAAF F-111C which performed a dump-and-burn manoeuvre synchronised with the extinction of the Olympic Flame. This created the appearance of the flame being carried away into the sky, flying in a northeasterly direction out across Sydney Harbor and ultimately towards Athens in a symbolic handover.

In honour of her gold medal win during the games, Cathy Freeman represented Oceania in carrying the Olympic flag, joining Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Africa), John Glenn (The Americas), Kazuyoshi Funaki (Asia), Lech Wałęsa (Europe), Jean-Michel Cousteau (Environment), Jean-Claude Killy (Sport), and Steven Spielberg (Culture) when it was raised again, at the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City; the opening ceremony there took place on 8 February 2002.

Sports[link]

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

The Sydney Olympics also featured wheelchair racing^[13] and chess^[14] as demonstration sports.

Medal count[link]

These are the top medal-collecting nations for the 2000 Games.^[15] Also, host nation, Australia, is highlighted below.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	37	24	31	92
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

Marion Jones, winner of three gold and two bronze medals for the United States, relinquished them in October 2007 after confessing that she had taken tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) from September 2000 through July 2001.^[16] The IOC formally stripped Jones and her relay teammates of their 5 medals, although her teammates were to be offered opportunity to present a case for retaining their medals.^[17] Eventually, Jones's teammates had their medals reinstated.^[18] Jones was also banned from competing for two years by the IAAF.^[17]

On 2 August 2008, the International Olympic Committee stripped the gold medal from the U.S. men's 4x400-meter relay team, after Antonio Pettigrew admitted using a banned substance.^[19] Three of the four runners in the event final, including Pettigrew and twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison, and preliminary round runner Jerome Young, all have admitted or tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.^[19] Only Angelo Taylor, who also ran in preliminary rounds, and world record holder Michael Johnson were not implicated.^[19] The medal was the fifth gold medal for world record holder Johnson, who stated he had already planned to return the medal because he felt "cheated, betrayed and let down" by Pettigrew's testimony.^[19] The gold medal position for this event is now vacant.

On 28 April 2010, the IOC stripped China of its bronze medal from the women's team competition for using an underage gymnast. The medal was awarded to the United States.^[20]

Participating nations[link]

Participating countries

Number of athletes

199 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Sydney Games, two more than in 1996 Summer Olympics. In addition, there were four Timorese Individual Olympic Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Eritrea, Micronesia and Palau made their Olympic debut this year.

Afghanistan was the only 1996 participant that did not participate in 2000, having been banned due to the extremist rule of the Taliban's oppression of women and its prohibition of sports.

• Individual Olympic Athletes (4) (representing Timor-Leste)

Venues[link]

Sydney Olympic Park[link]

Olympic Stadium

Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre

State Hockey Centre

• Olympic Stadium: Ceremonies (opening/closing), Athletics, Football (final)
• Sydney International Aquatic Centre: Diving, Modern Pentathlon (swimming) Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo (medal events)
• State Sports Centre: Table Tennis, Taekwondo
• NSW Tennis Centre: Tennis
• State Hockey Centre: Field Hockey
• The Dome and Exhibition Complex: Badminton, Basketball, Gymnastics (rhythmic), Handball (final), Modern Pentathlon (fencing, shooting), Volleyball (indoor)
• Sydney SuperDome: Gymnastics (artistic, trampoline), Basketball (final)
• Sydney Baseball Stadium: Baseball, Modern Pentathlon (riding, running)
• Sydney International Archery Park: Archery

Sydney[link]

Dunc Gray Velodrome

• Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre: Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Weightlifting, Wrestling
• Sydney Entertainment Centre: Volleyball (indoor final)
• Dunc Gray Velodrome: Cycling (track)
• Sydney International Shooting Centre: Shooting
• Sydney International Equestrian Centre: Equestrian
• Sydney International Regatta Centre: Rowing, Canoeing (sprint)
• Blacktown Olympic Centre: Baseball, Softball
• Fairfield City Farm: Cycling (mountain biking)
• Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre: Water Polo
• Penrith Whitewater Stadium: Canoeing (slalom)
• Bondi Beach: Volleyball (beach)
• Sydney Football Stadium: Football
• Olympic Sailing Shore Base: Sailing
• Centennial Parklands: Cycling (road)
• Marathon course: Athletics (marathon)
• North Sydney: Athletics (marathon start)
• Sydney Opera House: Triathlon

Outside Sydney[link]

• Bruce Stadium, Canberra: Football
• Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide: Football
• Melbourne Cricket Ground: Football
• Brisbane Cricket Ground: Football

Broadcast rights[link]

•  Argentina: Canal 7 Argentina, Canal 13, Telefe
•  Australia: Seven Network
•  Belgium: VRT
•  Brazil: Rede Globo, SBT, Rede Bandeirantes, SporTV and ESPN Brasil
•  Brunei: RTB and Astro Olympics
•  Canada: CBC Radio-Canada
•  Chile: TVN, Canal 13
•  China: CCTV
•  France: TF1, France Télévisions
•  Germany: ARD and ZDF
•  Hong Kong: RTHK, ATV and TVB
•  Hungary: Magyar Televízió
•  India: Doordarshan
•  Indonesia: TVRI
•  Ireland: RTÉ
•  Italy: RAI
•  Japan: NHK
•  Macau: TDM Olympics
•  Malaysia: RTM TV1 and Astro Olympics
•  Netherlands: NPO
•  Philippines: PTV 4
•  Poland: TVP
•  Russia: Public Russian Television, VGTRK Olympiade
•  Singapore: Singapore Television Twelve SportsCity
•  South Korea: KBS, MBC and SBS
•  Spain: TVE
•  Switzerland: SRG SSR idee suisse
•  Taiwan: TTV, CTV and CTS
•  Thailand: National Sports
•  United Kingdom: BBC
•  United States: NBC

Organization[link]

Bodies responsible for the Olympics[link]

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)
• IBM provider of technology and the Technical Command Center
• Telstra provider of telecommunications

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 Sports 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[link]

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[link]

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[link]

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[link]

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 Sandy Hollway 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 programme[link]

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

On 17 December 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 programme was managed internally by SOCOG's Volunteer Services Department in consultation with prominent peak groups like The Centre for Volunteering (Volunteering NSW) and TAFE. 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.

During the Olympic games tens of thousands of volunteers, the official figure was placed at 46,967,^[21] helped everywhere at the Olympic venues and elsewhere in the city. They were honoured with a parade like the athletes had a few days before.

The official logo[link]

The bid logo featured a stylised image of the Sydney Opera House, whilst the official logo featured the stylised image of a runner in motion and was designed by leading Melbourne graphic design firm, FHA Image Design.

The bid logo was designed by Michael Bryce, an architect and graphic designer, whose wife Quentin Bryce became Governor of Queensland in 2003 and Governor-General of Australia in 2008.^[22]

The Mascots[link]

The official mascots

The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were:^[23]

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

They were designed by Matt Hatton and Jozef Szekeres.

An unofficial mascot

There was also an unofficial mascot, Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, which was popularised by comedy team The Dream with Roy and HG. Roy and HG also frequently disparaged the official mascots on their television program.^[24][25][26]

The Bronze Medals[link]

Until the end of 1991,^[27] 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

In 1992, these 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 melted down and turned into bronze medals for the 2000 Olympics.^[28][29]

Bouquets[link]

The bouquets handed to medal recipients incorporated foliage from the Grevillea baileyana, also known as the white oak.^[30]

Award[link]

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.^[31]

NSWPF Olympic Commendation and Citation[link]

• The New South Wales Police Force was granted use of the Olympic Rings in the New South Wales Police Force Olympic Commendation and the New South Wales Police Force Olympic Citation for having staged the "safest" games ever.

See also[link]

Olympics portal

• 2000 Summer Paralympics
• Olympic games celebrated in Australia
  • 1956 Summer Olympics – Melbourne
  • 2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney

• Summer Olympic Games
• Olympic Games
• International Olympic Committee
• List of IOC country codes
• Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi
• John Dowling Coates
• The Games Of The XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony

Notes[link]

References[link]

• "Sydney 2000". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/Sydney-2000. 
• "All the Medallists since 1896". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/All-Olympic-results-since-1896/?AthleteName=&Games=1333932&Country=&Sport=&TargetResults=true&resultsPageIPP=30. 
• Official Report Vol. 1 – Digital Archive from the LA84 Foundation of Los Angeles

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 2000 Summer Olympics

• "Sydney 2000". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/Sydney-2000. 
• Sydney Olympic Games Information
• Sydney Olympic Park
• Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony – Australian Special Events
• Sydney 2000 Games Collection at the Powerhouse Museum – information and audio files
• Satellite view of 2000 Sydney Olympics sites
• Spirit of Sydney Volunteers Website – Website maintained by and for Sydney 2000 Volunteer Alumni
• Official 10th Anniversary Volunteers Website – Official 10th Anniversary Volunteers Website

David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE (13 June 1927—19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly seven decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush Lifestyle, and also for his many trucking songs. Dusty was the first Australian to have a No. 1 Hit song with Gordon Parsons (Pub With No Beer).^[1] He received an unequalled 37 Golden Guitar and two ARIA awards and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and the Country Music Roll of Renown. At the time of his death at the age of 76, Dusty had been working on his 106th album for EMI Records. In 2007 his domestic record sales in Australia surpassed seven million.

Early life and career[link]

David Gordon Kirkpatrick was born on 13 June 1927 in Kempsey, New South Wales, the son of a cattle farmer. Kirkpatrick adopted the stage name "Slim Dusty" in 1938 at eleven years of age.^[2] His earliest musical influences included Jimmie Rodgers. In 1945, Dusty wrote When the Rain Tumbles Down in July and released his first record that year at the age of eighteen. In 1946, he signed his first recording contract with Columbia Graphophone for the Regal Zonophone label.^[3]

Rise to fame and enduring popularity[link]

Statue of "The Cunnamulla Fella" erected as a tribute to song writer, Stan Coster and singer, Slim Dusty.

In 1951 Dusty married singer-songwriter Joy McKean and, with her help, achieved great success around Australia. In 1954 the two launched a full time business career, including the Slim Dusty Travelling Show. McKean was Dusty's wife and manager for over 50 years. Together the couple had two children, Anne Kirkpatrick and David Kirkpatrick, who are also accomplished singer-songwriters.^[4] McKean wrote several of Dusty's most popular songs, including: "Walk A Country Mile", "Indian Pacific", "Kelly's Offsider", "The Angel Of Goulburn Hill" and "The Biggest Disappointment".^[5] Although himself an accomplished writer of songs, Dusty had a number of other songwriters, including Mack Cormack, Gordon Parsons, Stan Coster, and Kelly Dixon, who were typically short on formal education but big on personal experience of the Australian bush. Drawing on his travels and such writers over a span of decades, Dusty chronicled the story of a rapidly changing postwar Australian nation. Nevertheless, the arrival of rock and roll music saw major metropolitan music radio stations abandon support for country artists, and despite record sales in the multimillions, after the 1950s Dusty was rarely heard on-air outside regional centres in Australia.^[6]

Dusty's 1957 hit "A Pub With No Beer" was the biggest-selling record by an Australian to that time, the first Australian single to go gold, and the first and only 78 rpm record to be awarded a gold disc.^[7] Over the course of his career, he collected more gold and platinum albums than any other Australian artist. (The "Pub with No Beer" is a real place, in Taylors Arm, not far from Kempsey where Slim was born).^[8] In 1959 and 1960 Dutch and German cover versions of the song became number one hits (even evergreens) in Belgium, Austria and Germany, brought by the Flemish country singer-guitarist and amusement park founder Bobbejaan Schoepen.

1964 saw the establishment of the annual Slim Dusty Australia-round tour, a 48,280 kilometres (30,000 mi) journey that went on for ten months. This regular event was the subject of a feature film, The Slim Dusty Movie, in 1984.

Dusty recorded not only songs written by himself and other fellow Australian performers but also classic Australian poems by Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson, with new tunes to call attention to the old 'Bush Ballads.' An example is The Man from Snowy River by Paterson. In 1970 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to music.^[9] In 1973 he won Best Single at the inaugural Country Music Awards of Australia at the Tamworth Country Music Festival (McKean won Song of the Year as writer of "Lights On The Hill"). In all, he won a record 35 "Golden Guitars" over the years.

Slim Dusty and his wife were patrons of the National Truck Drivers' Memorial located at Tarcutta, New South Wales. The General Manager of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, invited him and his wife to perform in 1997, recognising 50 years contributing to Country Music. The following January, he was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to the entertainment industry.^[10]

Dusty recorded and released his one hundredth album, Looking Forward, Looking Back, in 2000. All 100 albums had been recorded with the same record label, EMI, making Dusty the very first music artist in the world to record 100 albums with the same label.^[11] He was then given the honour of singing Waltzing Matilda in the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, with the whole stadium singing along with him.

Death[link]

Dusty died at his home in St Ives, New South Wales, on 19 September 2003 at the age of 76 after a protracted battle with cancer.^[12]

Thousands gathered at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, on 26 September 2003 at a state funeral attended by the prime minister and the opposition leader. Anglican Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen's tribute included leading the congregation of family, statesmen, fans, and musicians in the singing of "A Pub With No Beer". The funeral featured tributes from Slim's children as well as words from other national music stars (Peter Garrett and John Williamson) and music from Graeme Connors, Kasey Chambers, and Troy Cassar-Daley. Thousands of fans travelled from around Australia to stand outside the cathedral.^[13]

At the time of his death, Dusty had been working on his 106th album for EMI. The album Columbia Lane - the Last Sessions debuted at number five in the Australian album charts and number one on the country charts on 8 March 2004. It went gold after being on sale for less than two weeks.

Columbia Lane is a tribute to the laneway juxtaposed to Parramatta Road in Strathfield (near the railway bridge link), where the EMI studios once stood (now Kennards Hire), and it is where he traversed to begin his music career.

In 2004, Tamworth hosted the "Concert for Slim" as a memorial tribute featuring more than 30 Australian musical artists including Paul Kelly, Keith Urban, Lee Kernaghan and Kasey Chambers^[14]

In 2005, a statue of the "Cunumulla Fella" was unveiled in Cunnamulla, Queensland, in tribute to Dusty and Stan Coster and to the iconic song of that name performed by Dusty with lyrics by Coster.^[15] The song recalls Coster's days working as a sheep-shearing "ringer" around Cunnamulla in the 1950s. Dusty recorded the song and it became an enduring country music hit, later covered by Lee Kernaghan. The statue was unveiled by country music personalities Anne Kirkpatrick (Dusty's daughter), Jayne Kelly, and Tracy and Russell Coster.^[16][17]

EMI Records' Australian sales of Slim Dusty records surpassed 7 million in 2007.^[18]

Honours and milestones[link]

Slim Dusty was Australia's most successful and prolific musical artist, with more Gold and Platinum albums than any other Australian artist.^[19] Slim Dusty was also:^[11]

• The first Australian to receive a Gold Record.
• The first Australian to have an international record hit (Pub with No Beer).
• made a Member of the Order of the British Empire and an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to entertainment.
• The first artist broadcast from space when astronauts played his rendition of Waltzing Matilda from Space Shuttle Columbia as it passed over Australia on its maiden flight in 1981.^[20]
• the winner of an unequalled 36 [Golden Guitar awards] from 72 nominations at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. (see www.country.com.au/cmaa-awards/winners-archive)
• one of the earliest members of Australia's country music Roll of Renown.
• the achiever of more Gold Record and Platinum Record Awards than any other Australian artist.
• Inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and the ARIA Special Achievement Award.

Legacy[link]

• EMI Records' Australian sales of Slim Dusty records surpassed 7 million in 2007.^[18]
• Slim Dusty was a guest on the Wiggles' children DVD "Wiggly Wiggly World".
• His daughter Anne Kirkpatrick is also an award-winning country singer.
• Slim's life was the subject of a 1984 feature film: The Slim Dusty Movie"
• The Slim Dusty Centre will be built in Kempsey, NSW, Slim’s home town.^[21]
• The 2010 book 100 Best Australian Albums by Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell ranked The Very Best of Slim Dusty as the 24th best Australian album of the last 50 years.^[22]

Discography[link]

• Slim Dusty discography (incomplete)

References[link]