NEW FIRSTS
Triathlon and taekwondo were two new additions to the Olympic programme. Susanthika Jayasinghe became the first Sri Lankan woman to win a medal, claiming bronze in the 200m, whilst Birgit Fischer earned two gold medals in kayaking to become the first woman in any sport to win medals 20 years apart. Women also took part in weightlifting and the modern pentathlon for the very first time.
COMEBACK KINGS
There were some wonderful comebacks in Sydney but none more so than the US softball team. After losing three games in a row, they regrouped and won gold in stirring fashion by beating each of the teams they had previously lost to.
MEMORABLE CHAMPIONS
Ryoko Tamura had lost in the judo 48kg final in both Barcelona and Atlanta, but came back to win the gold medal in Sydney. Steven Redgrave gained sporting immortality by becoming the first rower to win gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games. In the 400m freestyle, 17-year old Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe won gold by breaking his own world record in front of a jubilant home crowd.
AUSTRALIAN UNITY
Cathy Freeman, the Australian athlete, had the honour of lighting the Olympic torch at the Opening Ceremony. This emotional moment helped symbolise the desire to reconcile with the Aboriginal populations of Australia. Ten days later, she won the 400m final before an ecstatic crowd.
NOCs: 199 (+ four individual athletes (IOA))
Athletes: 10,651 (4,069 women, 6,582 men)
Events: 300
Volunteers: 46,967
Media: 16,033 (5,298 written press, 10,735 broadcasters)
The emblem represents the figure of an athlete, using typically Australian shapes and colours. The boomerangs and suggestions of sun and rocks, together with the colours of the harbour, beaches and red interior invoke the unique Australian landscape and its original inhabitants.
The flash which transforms the silhouette of Sydney Opera House into a trail of smoke from an Olympic torch recalls the emblem of Sydney’s Olympic candidature.
| Athlete | Sport |
|---|---|
| Chary Mamedov | Athletics |
| Viktoriya Brigadnaya | Athletics |
| Galina Atayeva | Judo |
| Nasiba Salayeva | Judo |
| Igor Pirekeyev | Shooting |
| Aida Steshenko | Table Tennis |
| Umurbek Bazarbayev | Weightlifting |
| Nepes Gukulov | Wrestling Greco-Roman |
Start date:
10 May 2000, Olympia (Greece)
End date:
15 September 2000, Olympic Stadium, Sydney (Australia)
First torchbearer:
Lambros Papakostas, Olympic participant in athletics (1992, 1996)
Last torchbearer:
Cathy Freeman, Olympic participant in athletics (1992, 1996, 2000), gold medallist in Sydney 2000 and silver medallist in Atlanta 1996.
Number of torchbearers:
~900 in Greece, ~1,500 in Oceania, 11,000 in Australia
Recruitment of torchbearers:
In Australia, the Community Torchbearers programme allowed the Australian general public to nominate people who were notable for their achievements or worked for the common good. Through this programme, 6,000 torchbearers were selected from among a total of over 43,000 nominations.
The rest of the torchbearers were either chosen through sponsors, media partners and the Organising Committee, or were Olympians. About 7 per cent of the torchbearers were of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage.
Distance:
1,696 km on land and 463 nautical miles in Greece, ~17,000 km in Oceania, 27,000 km in Australia.
Countries visited:
Greece, Guam, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia.
NAME
Syd is a reference to Sydney, Olly to Olympic and Millie to the new millennium.
DESCRIPTION
The three mascots are a duck-billed platypus (Syd), a kookaburra (Olly) and an echidna or spiny anteater (Millie). They symbolise the water, air and earth respectively. Their colours correspond to those of the Games emblem, and all three are typical examples of Australian fauna.
CREATOR
Matthew Hatton
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