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

Summer Olympic Games
The Olympic flame at Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics
Games
1896 • 1900 • 1904 • (1906) • 1908 • 1912 • 1916 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1940 • 1944 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 • 2012 • 2016 • 2020 • 2024 • 2028
Sports (details)
Archery • Athletics • Badminton • Basketball • Boxing • Canoeing • Cycling • Diving • Equestrian • Field hockey • Fencing • Football • Gymnastics • Handball • Judo • Modern pentathlon • Rowing • Sailing • Shooting • Swimming • Synchronized swimming • Table tennis • Taekwondo • Tennis • Triathlon • Volleyball • Water polo • Weightlifting • Wrestling

The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that started in 1904. The Winter Olympics were also created due to the success of the summer Olympics.

The olympics have increased from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 male athletes to a 300-event sporting celebration with over 10,000 competitors from 205 nations. Organizers for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing expected approximately 10,500 athletes to take part in the 302 events on the program for the games.^[1]

The United States has hosted four Summer Olympics Games, more than any other nation. The United Kingdom will have hosted three Summer Olympics Games when they return to the British capital in 2012, all of them have been (and will be) in London, making it the first city to hold the Summer Olympic Games three times. Australia, France, Germany and Greece have all hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice. Other countries that have hosted the summer Olympics are Belgium, China, Canada, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the Soviet Union and Sweden. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro will host the first Summer Games in South America. Four cities have hosted two Summer Olympic Games: Los Angeles, London, Paris and Athens. Stockholm, Sweden, has hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having hosted the games in 1912 and the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics—which they are usually listed as jointly hosting.^[2] Events at the summer Olympics have also been held in Hong Kong and the Netherlands (both represented by their own NOCs), with the equestrian events at the 2008 Summer Olympics being held in Hong Kong and two sailing races at the 1920 Summer Olympics being held in the Netherlands.

Five countries – Greece, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and Australia (twice combined with New Zealand as Australasia) – have been represented at all Summer Olympic Games. The only country to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Olympic Games is Great Britain, ranging from one gold in 1904, 1952 and 1996 to fifty-six golds in 1908.

Qualification[link]

Qualification rules for each of the Olympic sports are set by the International Sports Federations (IFs) that governs that sport's international competition.^[3]

For individual sports, competitors typically qualify through attaining a certain place in a major international event or on the IF's ranking list. National Olympic committees may enter a limited number of qualified competitors in each event, and the NOC decides which qualified competitors to select as representatives in each event if more have attained the benchmark than can be entered.^[3][4]

Nations qualify teams for team sports through continental qualifying tournaments, in which each continental association is given a certain number of spots in the Olympic tournament.

History[link]

The opening ceremony of the first Olympic Games in the Panathenaic Stadium

Panorama of the Panathinaiko Stadium

Early years[link]

The modern Olympic Games were founded in 1894 when Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin sought to promote international understanding through sporting competition. He based his Olympics on the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games, which had been contested in Much Wenlock since 1850.^[5]

The first edition of de Coubertin's games, held in Athens in 1896, attracted just 245 competitors, of whom more than 200 were Greek, and only 14 countries were represented. Nevertheless, no international events of this magnitude had been organized before. Female athletes were not allowed to compete, though one woman, Stamata Revithi, ran the marathon course on her own, saying "[i]f the committee doesn’t let me compete I will go after them regardless".^[6]

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, consequently Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. It was unanimously chosen as the host city during a congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, in Paris, on June 23, 1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also established during this congress.

Despite many obstacles and setbacks, the 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. Panathinaiko Stadium, the first big stadium in the modern world, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event.^[7] The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spiridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four gold medals.

After the Games, Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the 1906 Intercalated Games, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Four years later the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris attracted more than four times as many athletes, including 20 women, who were allowed to officially compete for the first time, in croquet, golf, sailing, and tennis. The Games were integrated with the Paris World's Fair and lasted over 5 months. It is still disputed which events exactly were Olympic, since few or maybe even none of the events were advertised as such at the time.

Runners at the first modern marathon in 1896 Olympic Games

Dorando Pietri finishes the modern marathon at the current distance

Numbers declined for the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, due in part to the lengthy transatlantic boat trip required of the European competitors, and the integration with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair, which again spread the event out over an extended period. In contrast with Paris 1900, the word Olympic was used for practically every contest, including those exclusively for school boys or for Irish-Americans.

A series of smaller games were held in Athens in 1906. The IOC does not currently recognize these games as being official Olympic Games, although many historians do. The 1906 Athens games were the first of an alternating series of games to be held in Athens, but the series failed to materialize. The games were more successful than the 1900 and 1904 games, with over 900 athletes competing, and contributed positively to the success of future games.

The 1908 London Games saw numbers rise again, as well as the first running of the marathon over its now-standard distance of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards). The winner of the first Olympic Marathon in 1896 (a male-only race) was Spiridon "Spiros" Louis, a Greek water-carrier. He won at the Olympics in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds at a distance of 40 km (24 miles 85 yards). The new marathon distance of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards) was chosen to ensure that the race finished in front of the box occupied by the British royal family. Thus the marathon had been 40 km for the first games in 1896, but was subsequently varied by up to 2 km due to local conditions such as street and stadium layout. At the six Olympic games between 1900 and 1920, the marathon was raced over six different distances.

At the end of the 1908 marathon the Italian runner Dorando Pietri was first to enter the stadium, but he was clearly in distress, and collapsed of exhaustion before he could complete the event. He was helped over the finish line by concerned race officials, but later he was disqualified and the gold medal was awarded to John Hayes, who had trailed him by around 30 seconds.

The Games continued to grow, attracting 2,504 competitors, to Stockholm in 1912, including the great all-rounder Jim Thorpe, who won both the decathlon and pentathlon. Thorpe had previously played a few games of baseball for a fee, and saw his medals stripped for this breach of amateurism after complaints from Avery Brundage. They were reinstated in 1983, 30 years after his death. The Games at Stockholm were the first to fulfill Pierre de Coubertin's original idea. For the first time since the Games started in 1896 were all continents represented with athletes competing in the same stadium.

The scheduled Berlin Games of 1916 were cancelled following the onset of World War I.

Interwar era[link]

The 1920 Antwerp games in war-ravaged Belgium were a subdued affair, but again drew a record number of competitors. This record only stood until 1924, when the Paris Games involved 3,000 competitors, the greatest of whom was Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi. "The Flying Finn", won three team gold medals and the individual 1,500 and 5,000 meter runs, the latter two on the same day.

The 1928 Amsterdam games were notable for being the first games which allowed females to compete at track & field athletics, and benefited greatly from the general prosperity of the times alongside the first appearance of sponsorship of the games, from Coca-Cola. The 1928 games saw the introduction of a standard medal design with the IOC choosing Giuseppe Cassioli's depiction of Greek goddess Nike and a winner being carried by a crowd of people. This design was used up until 1972.

The 1932 in Los Angeles games were affected by the Great Depression, which contributed to the fewest competitors since the St. Louis games. The 1936 Berlin Games were seen by the German government as a golden opportunity to promote their ideology. The ruling Nazi Party commissioned film-maker Leni Riefenstahl to film the games. The result, Olympia, was a masterpiece, despite Hitler's theories of Aryan racial superiority being repeatedly shown up by "non-Aryan" athletes. In particular, African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens won four gold medals. The tale of Hitler snubbing Owens at the ensuing medal ceremony is an urban myth.^[8] The 1936 Berlin Games also saw the reintroduction of the Torch Relay.^[9]

Due to World War II, the Games of 1940 (due to be held in Tokyo and temporarily relocated to Helsinki upon the outbreak of war) were cancelled. The Games of 1944 were due to be held in London but were also cancelled; instead, London hosted the first games after the end of the war, in 1948.

After World War II[link]

The first post-war Games were held in 1948 in London, with both Germany and Japan excluded. Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals on the track, emulating Owens' achievement in Berlin.

At the 1952 Games in Helsinki the USSR team competed for the first time and immediately became one of the dominant teams. Finland made a legend of an amiable Czech army lieutenant named Emil Zátopek, who was intent on improving on his single gold and silver medals from 1948. Having first won both the 10,000 and 5,000 meter races, he also entered the marathon, despite having never previously raced at that distance. Pacing himself by chatting with the other leaders, Zátopek led from about half way, slowly dropping the remaining contenders to win by two and a half minutes, and completed a trio of wins.

The 1956 Melbourne Games were largely successful, barring a water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union, which political tensions caused to end as a pitched battle between the teams. Due to a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Britain at the time and the strict quarantine laws of Australia, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm.

At the 1960 Rome Games a young light-heavyweight boxer named Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, arrived on the scene. Ali would later throw his gold medal away in disgust after being refused service in a whites-only restaurant in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky.^[10] Soviet women's artistic gymnastics team members won 15 of 16 possible medals. Other performers of note in 1960 included Wilma Rudolph, a gold medalist in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 meters relay events.

The 1964 Games held in Tokyo are notable for heralding the modern age of telecommunications. These games were the first to be broadcast worldwide on television, enabled by the recent advent of communication satellites. The 1964 Games were thus a turning point in the global visibility and popularity of the Olympics.

Performances at the 1968 Mexico City games were affected by the altitude of the host city,^[11] specifically the long jump, in which American athlete Bob Beamon jumped 8.90 meters. Beamon's world record would stand for 23 years. The 1968 Games also introduced the now-universal Fosbury flop, a technique which won American high jumper Dick Fosbury the gold medal. Politics took center stage in the medal ceremony for the men's 200 meter dash, where Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a protest gesture on the podium against the segregation in the United States; their political act was condemned within the Olympic Movement, but was praised in the American Civil Rights Movement.

Politics again intervened at Munich in 1972, with lethal consequences. A Palestinian terrorist group named Black September invaded the Olympic village and broke into the apartment of the Israeli delegation. They killed two Israelis and held 9 others as hostages. The terrorists demanded that Israel release numerous prisoners. When the Israeli government refused their demand, a tense stand-off ensued while negotiations continued. Eventually the captors, still holding their hostages, were offered safe passage and taken to an airport, where they were ambushed by German security forces. In the firefight that followed, 15 people, including the nine Israeli athletes and five of the terrorists, were killed. After much debate, it was decided that the Games would continue, but proceedings were obviously dominated by these events.^[12] Some memorable athletic achievements did occur during these Games, notably the winning of a then-record seven gold medals by United States swimmer Mark Spitz, Lasse Virén (of Finland)'s back-to-back gold in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters (defeating American distance great Steve Prefontaine in the former), and the winning of three gold medals by 16-year-old Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut. Korbut failed to win the all-around, losing to her teammate Ludmilla Tourischeva.

There was no such tragedy in Montreal in 1976, but bad planning and fraud led to the Games' cost far exceeding the budget. The Montreal Games were the most expensive in Olympic history, until the 2008 Summer Olympics, costing over $5 billion (equivalent to $20 billion in 2006). For a time, it seemed that the Olympics might no longer be a viable financial proposition. In retrospect, the belief that contractors (suspected of being members of the Montreal Mafia) skimmed large sums of money from all levels of contracts while also profiting from the substitution of cheaper building materials of lesser quality, may have contributed to the delays, poor construction and excessive costs. In 1988, one such contractor, Giuseppe Zappia "was cleared of fraud charges that resulted from his work on Olympic facilities after two key witnesses died before testifying at his trial."^[13] There was also a boycott by African nations to protest against a recent tour of apartheid-run South Africa by a New Zealand rugby side. The Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci won the women's individual all around gold medal with two of four possible perfect scores, thus giving birth to a gymnastics dynasty in Romania. Another female gymnast to earn the perfect score and three gold medals there was Nellie Kim of the USSR. Lasse Virén repeated his double gold in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, making him the only athlete to ever win the distance double twice.

End of the 20th century[link]

Following the Soviet Union's participation in the Afghan Civil War, 66 nations, including the United States, Canada, West Germany and Japan, boycotted the 1980 games held in Moscow. The boycott contributed to the 1980 Games being a less publicised and less competitive affair, which was dominated by the host country.

In 1984 the Soviet Union, and 13 Soviet Allies, reciprocated by boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. These games were perhaps the first games of a new era to make a profit. The games were again viable, but had become more commercial. Again, without the participation of the Eastern European countries, the 1984 Games were dominated by their host country. The game was also the first time Mainland China (People's Republic) participated.

The 1988 games, in Seoul, were very well planned but the games were tainted when many of the athletes, most notably men's 100 metres winner Ben Johnson, failed mandatory drug tests. Despite splendid drug-free performances by many individuals, the number of people who failed screenings for performance-enhancing chemicals overshadowed the games.

The 1992 Barcelona Games featured increased professionalism amongst Olympic athletes, exemplified by US basketball's "Dream Team". 1992 also saw the reintroduction to the Games of several smaller European states which had been incorporated into the Soviet Union since World War II. These games also saw gymnast Vitaly Scherbo equal the record for most individual gold medals at a single Games set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Games, with five.

By then the process of choosing a location for the Games had itself become a commercial concern; allegations of corruption rocked the International Olympic Committee, in particular with reference to Salt Lake City's bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. In the Atlanta games in 1996, the highlight was 200 meters runner Michael Johnson annihilating the world record in front of a home crowd. Canadians savored Donovan Bailey's record-breaking gold medal run in the 100-meter dash. This was popularly felt to be an appropriate recompense for the previous national disgrace involving Ben Johnson. There were also emotional scenes, such as when Muhammad Ali, clearly affected by Parkinson's disease, lit the Olympic torch and received a replacement medal for the one he had discarded in 1960. The latter event took place not at the boxing ring but in the basketball arena, at the demand of US television. The atmosphere at the Games was marred, however, when a bomb exploded during the celebration in Centennial Olympic Park. In June 2003, the principal suspect in this bombing, Eric Robert Rudolph, was arrested.

New millennium[link]

The 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia, known as the "Games of the New Millennium".

The 2000 Games were held in Sydney, Australia, (actually the last games of the old millennium) and showcased individual performances by local favorite Ian Thorpe in the pool, Briton Steve Redgrave who won a rowing gold medal in an unprecedented fifth consecutive Olympics, and Cathy Freeman, an Indigenous Australian whose triumph in the 400 meters united a packed stadium. Eric "the Eel" Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, had a memorably slow 100 meter freestyle swim that showed that, even in the commercial world of the twentieth century, some of de Coubertin's original vision still remained.^[14] The Sydney Games were also memorable for the first appearance of a joint North and South Korean contingent (to a standing ovation) at the opening ceremonies, even if they competed as different countries. Controversy did not escape the 2000 Games in Women's Artistic Gymnastics, in which the vaulting horse was set to the wrong height during the All Around Competition. Several athletes faltered, including Russian Svetlana Khorkina, who had been favored to win gold after qualifying for the competition in first place.

In 2004 the Games returned to their birthplace in Athens, Greece. Greece spent at least $7.2 billion on the Games, including $1.5 billion on security alone. Nonetheless, the Men's Gymnastics events were mired in controversy when it was discovered that Korean gymnast Yang Tae Young had been incorrectly credited with a lower start value, which placed him third behind American Paul Hamm, who won the competition. Later in the event finals, fans halted the Men's High Bar competition with chants of disapproval following the release of the score for Russian Alexei Nemov. Allegations of corrupt judging also marred the event finals in men's still rings. Although unfounded and wildly sensationalized reports of potential terrorism drove crowds away from the preliminary competitions of the first weekend of the games (14–15 August), attendance picked up as the games progressed. Still, a third of the tickets failed to sell.^[15] The Athens Games witnessed all 202 NOCs participate with over 11,000 participants.

The 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing, People's Republic of China. This Olympics was the subject of much controversy, especially following the March Tibetan riots. Human rights activists unsuccessfully called for a boycott, and some even compared the 2008 Olympics to the 1936 ones held in Nazi Germany. Several new events were held, including the new discipline of BMX for both men and women. For the first time, women competed in the steeplechase. The fencing program was expanded to include all six events for both men and women. Women had not previously been able to compete in team foil or saber events (although women's team épée and men's team foil were dropped for these Games). Marathon swimming events, over the distance of 10 kilometers, were added. In addition, the doubles events in table tennis were replaced by team events.^[1] American swimmer Michael Phelps set a record for gold medals at a single Games with eight, and tied the record of Heiden and Scherbo for most individual golds at a single Games. Another major star of the Games was Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who became the first male athlete ever to set world records in the finals of both the 100 and 200 metres in the same Games.

London, United Kingdom will hold the 2012 Summer Olympics, making it the first city to host the Games three times. The International Olympic Committee has removed baseball and softball from the 2012 program. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will be the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics, becoming the first South American city to host either the Summer or Winter Games. Also, this will be the first games held in a lusosphere country (a Portuguese speaking country). In October 2009, the IOC included golf and rugby sevens as part of the Olympic program for Rio de Janeiro (Rugby sevens, in particular, was not considered for inclusion in 2012).

All-time medal table[link]

With reference to the top ten nations and according to official data of the International Olympic Committee.

     Past nations

#	Nation	Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Ref.
1	United States (USA)	25	930	728	639	2297	[16]
2	Soviet Union (URS)	9	395	319	226	1010
3	Great Britain (GBR)	26	207	255	203	715	[17]
4	France (FRA)	26	191	212	233	636
5	Italy (ITA)	25	191	157	174	522	[18]
6	China (CHN)	8	163	117	105	385	[19]
7	Germany (GER)	14	163	163	204	530	[20]
8	Hungary (HUN)	24	159	141	159	459
9	East Germany (GDR)	5	153	129	127	409
10	Sweden (SWE)	25	142	160	173	475

List of Olympic sports[link]

43 different sports, spanning 56 different disciplines, have been part of the Olympic program at one point or another. 28 sports have comprised the schedule for the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics, though baseball and softball have been removed to give a list of 26 for the 2012 Games.^[21]

The Summer Olympic Sports or Federations are regrouped under a common umbrella association, called the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

List of modern Summer Olympic Games[link]

Map of Summer Olympics locations. Countries that have hosted one Summer Olympics are shaded green, while countries that have hosted two or more are shaded blue.

Games	Year	Host	Dates	Nations	Competitors			Sports	Events	Ref
					Total	Men	Women
I	1896	22x20px Athens, Greece	6–15 April	14	241	241	0	9	43	[1]
II	1900	Paris, France	14 May – 28 October	24	997	975	22	18	95	[2]
III	1904	St. Louis, United States	1 July – 23 November	12	651	645	6	17	91	[3]
IV	1908	London, Great Britain	27 April – 31 October	22	2008	1971	37	22	110	[4]
V	1912	Stockholm, Sweden	12 May – 27 July	28	2407	2359	48	14	102	[5]
VI	1916	Originally awarded to Berlin, cancelled because of World War I
VII	1920	Antwerp, Belgium	20 April – 12 September	29	2626	2561	65	22	154	[6]
VIII	1924	Paris, France	4 May – 27 July	44	3089	2954	135	17	126	[7]
IX	1928	Amsterdam, Netherlands	17 May – 12 August	46	2883	2606	277	14	109	[8]
X	1932	Los Angeles, United States	30 July – 14 August	37	1332	1206	126	14	117	[9]
XI	1936	Berlin, Germany	1–16 August	49	3963	3632	331	19	129	[10]
XII	1940	Originally awarded to Tokyo, then awarded to Helsinki, cancelled because of World War II
XIII	1944	Originally awarded to London, cancelled because of World War II
XIV	1948	London, Great Britain	29 July – 14 August	59	4104	3714	390	17	136	[11]
XV	1952	Helsinki, Finland	19 July – 3 August	69	4955	4436	519	17	149	[12]
XVI	1956	Melbourne, Australia	22 November – 9 December	72	3314	2938	376	17	145	[13]
XVII	1960	Rome, Italy	25 August – 11 September	83	5338	4727	611	17	150	[14]
XVIII	1964	Tokyo, Japan	10–24 October	93	5151	4473	678	19	163	[15]
XIX	1968	Mexico City, Mexico	12–27 October	112	5516	4735	781	18	172	[16]
XX	1972	Munich, West Germany	26 August – 11 September	121	7134	6075	1059	21	195	[17]
XXI	1976	Montreal, Canada	17 July – 1 August	92	6084	4824	1260	21	198	[18]
XXII	1980	Moscow, Soviet Union	19 July – 3 August	80	5179	4064	1115	21	203	[19]
XXIII	1984	Los Angeles, United States	28 July – 12 August	140	6829	5263	1566	21	221	[20]
XXIV	1988	Seoul, South Korea	17 September – 2 October	160	8391	6197	2194	23	237	[21]
XXV	1992	Barcelona, Spain	25 July – 9 August	169	9356	6652	2704	25	257	[22]
XXVI	1996	Atlanta, United States	19 July – 4 August	197	10318	6806	3512	26	271	[23]
XXVII	2000	Sydney, Australia	15 September – 1 October	199	10651	6582	4069	28	300	[24]
XXVIII	2004	Athens, Greece	13–29 August	201	10625	6296	4329	28	301	[25]
XXIX	2008	Beijing, China	8–24 August	204	10942	6305	4637	28	302	[26]
XXX	2012	London, Great Britain	27 July – 12 August	future event
XXXI	2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	5–21 August	future event
XXXII	2020	Istanbul, Turkey or Tokyo, Japan or Madrid, Spain (TBD September 7, 2013)	TBD	future event

^ A: The 1906 Intercalated Games are no longer considered official Games by the IOC.
^ B: Due to Australian quarantine laws, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm several months before the rest of the 1956 Games in Melbourne.

Note: Although the Games of 1916, 1940, and 1944 had been cancelled, the Roman numerals for those Games were still used because the Summer Games' official titles count Olympiads, not the Games themselves; those Olympiads occurred anyway per the Olympic Charter. This is in contrast to the Roman numerals in the official titles of the Winter Olympic Games, which ignore the cancelled Winter Games of 1940 & 1944; those titles count Games instead of Olympiads.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• List of participating nations at the Summer Olympic Games
• All-time Olympic Games medal count
• Olympic Games scandals
• Winter Olympic Games
• Olympic Stadium
• Multi-sport event
• Olympic Games ceremony
• Summer Paralympic Games

Notes[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2010)

External links[link]

• Official Site of the Olympic Movement
• Summer Olympic Games medalists and records (German)
• Candidate Cities for future Olympic Games
• LA84 Foundation archive of Official Reports