Sydney Olympics 2000

15 September to 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales

Widely regarded by media, sports commentators and olympic officials as the "best" games ever!

International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, in his closing ceremony speech, described Sydney's Games as the "best ever".

The Olympics paved the way for successive Australian sports diplomacy strategies. These include promoting Australia's expertise in helping other countries host major events, not least their opening and closing ceremonies.

Sydney was chosen ahead of Beijing 45 to 43. In what many saw as a narrow victory for sports over politics, the International Olympic Committee on Thursday selected Sydney, Australia, as the site of the 2000 Summer Games by a two-vote margin over runner-up Beijing.

The United States won the most medals overall with 93, as well as the most gold (37) medals. Australia finished the Games with 58 medals overall (16 gold, 25 silver, and 17 bronze).

The 17 days in September 2000 linger as a significant moment in Australia's sporting and social history, when the country was at the heart of the global village.

Hightlights

Best Olympic Games ever

Nikki Webster performance

Opening Ceremony

Cathy Freeman 400-metre WIN

2000 Summer Olympics

The 2000 Summer Olympics (officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and commonly known as Sydney 2000, the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium) was an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was the second time the Summer Olympics were held in Australia, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1956.

Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 Games in 1993. Teams from 199 countries participated. The Games' cost was estimated to be A$6.6 billion. The Games received universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers, sportsmanship and Australian public being lauded in the international media. Bill Bryson from The Times called the Sydney Games "one of the most successful events on the world stage", saying that they "couldn't be better".

James Mossop of the Electronic Telegraph called the Games "such a success that any city considering bidding for future Olympics must be wondering how it can reach the standards set by Sydney", while Jack Todd in the Montreal Gazette suggested that the "IOC should quit while it's ahead. Admit there can never be a better Olympic Games, and be done with it," as "Sydney was both exceptional and the best".

These games would provide the inspiration for London's winning bid for the 2012 Olympic Games in 2005 and in preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Lord Coe declared the Sydney Games the "benchmark for the spirit of the Games, unquestionably" and admitting that the London organising committee "attempted in a number of ways to emulate what the Sydney Organising Committee did." These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch. These were also the second Olympic Games to be held in spring and is to date the most recent games not to be held in its more traditional July or August summer slot.

The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by Russia and China with host Australia at fourth place overall.

Host city selection

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. The Australian city of Melbourne had lost out to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics three years earlier. Beijing lost its bid to host the games to Sydney in 1993, but was later awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics in July 2001 after Sydney hosted the previous year, and it would eventually be awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics twenty-two years later in 2015. Although it is unknown as to why members of the International Olympic Committee voted for Sydney over Beijing in 1993, it appears that an important role was played by Human Rights Watch's campaign to "stop Beijing" because of China's human rights record. Many in China were angry at what they saw as U.S.-led interference in the vote, and the outcome contributed to rising anti-Western sentiment in China and tensions in Sino-American relations.

Costs

The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at US$5 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 90% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organising committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g., expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g., the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast centre, and media and press centre, which are required to host the Games. Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost for Sydney 2000 compares with a cost of US$4.6 billion for Rio 2016, US$40-44 billion for Beijing 2008 and US$51 billion for Sochi 2014, the most expensive Olympics in history. The average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is US$5.2 billion, average cost overrun is 176%.

In 2000, 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.0 Many venues were constructed in the Sydney Olympic Park, which failed in the years immediately following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses. In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and health programs to cover Olympic expenses.

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 after 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." In the years after the games, infrastructure issues have been of growing concern to citizens, especially those in the western suburbs of Sydney. Proposed rail links to Sydney's west have been estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games.

Chronological summary of the 2000 Summer Olympics
Preliminary matches
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

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. It was produced and filmed by the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation and the home nation broadcaster Channel 7. This was introduced by 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 Bibi Salisachs (the wife of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch) was seriously ill and unable to accompany her husband to the Olympics, Dawn Fraser, former Australian Olympic Champion swimmer and member of the Parliament of New South Wales, accompanied Samaranch during the Australian cultural display, explaining to him some of the cultural references that are unfamiliar to non-Australians.

Formal presentation

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, who was banned due to the extremist rule of the Taliban's oppression of women and its prohibition of sports. 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. 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. Following this, Tina Arena sang a purpose-written pop song, The Flame.

The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame, which was brought into the stadium by former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott. Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic medalists 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.

Day 2: 16 September

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 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 17-year-old Australian Ian Thorpe, who first set a new world record in the 400-metre freestyle final before competing in an exciting 4 �- 100 m freestyle final. Swimming the last leg, Thorpe passed the leading American team 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

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-metre 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

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

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 third round (out of four), it was determined that the vault horse had been set 5 cm too low - enough of a difference to throw off the impeccable timing of many of these world-class athletes. While athletes were allowed to vault again, the remedy did not fully repair injuries and shaken confidence. The medals were eventually all won by Romanian gymnasts, with Andreea Raducan becoming the first athlete from her country to win the title since Nadia Comaneci in 1976. Teammates Simona Amânar and Maria Olaru took silver and bronze, respectively. This result also marked the first sweep of the event since the Soviet Union's in 1960.

Day 9: 23 September

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

Rulon Gardner, never an 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

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. The attendance at the stadium was 112,524 - the largest attendance for any sport in Olympic Games history.

In a men's basketball pool match between the United States 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

The Canadian flag at the athletes' village was lowered to half-mast as Canadian athletes paid tribute to the former prime minister Pierre Trudeau after hearing of his death in Montreal (because of the time zone difference, it was 29 September in Sydney when Trudeau died). The Canadian flag was flown at half-mast 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 16: 30 September

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.

Day 17: 1 October

The last event of the games was the Men's Marathon, contested on a course that started in North Sydney. The event was won by Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera, with Kenyan Erick Wainaina second, and Tesfaye Tola, also of Ethiopia, third. It was the first time since the 1968 Olympics that an Ethiopian won the gold medal in this event.

The closing ceremony commenced with Christine Anu performing her version of the Warumpi Band's song "My Island Home", with several Aboriginal dancers atop the Geodome Stage in the middle of the stadium, around which several hundred umbrella and lamp box kids created an image of Aboriginal Dreamtime. The Geodome Stage was used throughout the ceremony, which was a flat stage mechanically raised into the shape of a Geode.

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremony..

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

Subsequent Summer Olympics held in Athens, Beijing and London have been described by Samaranch's successor Jacques Rogge as "unforgettable, dream Games", "truly exceptional" and "happy and glorious games" 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, Vanessa Amorosi, Tommy Emmanuel, and Savage Garden.

The Games were then handed over to their modern birthplace Athens, which succeeded Sydney as the summer 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, which itself concluded with a very low flyover of Stadium Australia by an RAAF F-111C, performing 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 Harbour 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 Wał� sa (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

The 2000 Summer Olympic programme featured 300 events in the following 28 sports:

Aquatics
Diving (8)
Swimming (32)
Synchronized swimming (2)
Water polo (2)
Archery (4)
Athletics (46)
Badminton (5)
Baseball (1)
Basketball (2)
Boxing (12)
Canoeing
Sprint (12)
Slalom (4)
Cycling
Road (4)
Track (12)
Mountain biking (2)
Equestrian
Dressage (2)
Eventing (2)
Show jumping (2)
Fencing (10)
Field hockey (2)
Football (2)
Gymnastics
Artistic (14)
Rhythmic (2)
Trampoline (2)
Handball (2)
Judo (14)
Modern pentathlon (2)
Rowing (14)
Sailing (11)
Shooting (17)
Softball (1)
Table tennis (4)
Taekwondo (8)
Tennis (4)
Triathlon (2)
Volleyball
Volleyball (2)
Beach volleyball (2)
Weightlifting (15)
Wrestling
Freestyle (8)
Greco-Roman (8)

Although demonstration sports were abolished following the 1992 Summer Olympics, the Sydney Olympics featured wheelchair racing as exhibition events on the athletics schedule.

Special quarantine conditions were introduced to allow entry of horses into Australia to participate in equestrian events, avoiding the need for such events to take place elsewhere as had happened at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals in the 2000 Games.

The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee. Some other sources may be inconsistent due to not taking into account all later doping cases.

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total

1 United States 37 24 32 93
2 Russia 32 28 29 89
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

Totals (10 nations) 186 162 161 509

Participating National Olympic Committees

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

Afghanistan was the only 1996 participant and the only existing NOC that did not participate in the 2000 Olympics, having been banned due to the extremist rule of the Taliban's oppression of women and its prohibition of sports; later, also destroyed was the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Taliban's totalitarian rule in Afghanistan (present-day Afghanistan), from the orders by the Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Participating National Olympic Committees

Afghanistan (4)
Albania (5 athletes)
Algeria (47)
American Samoa (5)
Andorra (5)
Angola (30)
Antigua and Barbuda (3)
Argentina (143)
Armenia (25)
Aruba (5)
Australia (632) (host)
Austria (92)
Azerbaijan (29)
Bahamas (25)
Bahrain (4)
Bangladesh (4)
Barbados (18)
Belarus (139)
Belgium (68)
Belize (2)
Benin (4)
Bermuda (6)
Bhutan (2)
Bolivia (5)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (9)
Botswana (7)
Brazil (205)
British Virgin Islands (1)
Brunei (1)
Bulgaria (91)
Burkina Faso (2)
Burundi (6)
Cambodia (4)
Cameroon (34)
Canada (294)
Cape Verde (2)
Cayman Islands (3)
Central African Republic (3)
Chad (2)
Chile (50)
China (271)
Colombia (44)
Comoros (2)
Republic of the Congo (4)
Cook Islands (3)
Costa Rica (7)
Croatia (88)
Cuba (229)
Cyprus (22)
Czech Republic (119)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (3)
Denmark (97)
Djibouti (2)
Dominica (4)
Dominican Republic (13)
East Timor (8)
Ecuador (10)
Egypt (89)
El Salvador (8)
Equatorial Guinea (4)
Eritrea (3)
Estonia (33)
Ethiopia (26)
Federated States of Micronesia (5)
Fiji (7)
Finland (70)
France (336)
Gabon (5)
The Gambia (2)
Georgia (36)
Germany (422)
Ghana (22)
Great Britain (332)
Greece (140)
Grenada (3)
Guam (7)
Guatemala (15)
Guinea (6)
Guinea-Bissau (3)
Guyana (4)
Haiti (5)
Honduras (20)
Hong Kong (31)
Hungary (178)
Iceland (18)
India (65)
Indonesia (47)
Iran (35)
Iraq (4)
Ireland (64)
Israel (39)
Italy (361)
Ivory Coast (14)
Jamaica (48)
Japan (266)
Jordan (8)
Kazakhstan (130)
Kenya (56)
Kiribati (56)
Kuwait (29)
Kyrgyzstan (18)
Laos (3)
Latvia (45)
Lebanon (6)
Lesotho (6)
Liberia (8)
Libya (3)
Liechtenstein (2)
Lithuania (61)
Luxembourg (7)
Macedonia (8)
Madagascar (11)
Malawi (2)
Malaysia (40)
Maldives (4)
Mali (5)
Malta (7)
Marshall Islands (5)
Mauritania (2)
Mauritius (20)
Mexico (78)
Moldova (34)
Monaco (4)
Mongolia (20)
Morocco (55)
Mozambique (5)
Myanmar (7)
Namibia (12)
Nauru (2)
Nepal (5)
Netherlands (243)
Netherlands Antilles (7)
New Zealand (151)
Nicaragua (6)
Niger (4)
Nigeria (83)
North Korea (31)
Norway (95)
Oman (6)
Pakistan (26)
Palau (5)
Palestine (2)
Panama (6)
Papua New Guinea (5)
Paraguay (5)
Peru (21)
Philippines (21)
Poland (187)
Portugal (62)
Puerto Rico (29)
Qatar (17)
Romania (145)
Russia (435)
Rwanda (5)
Saint Kitts and Nevis (2)
Saint Lucia (5)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (4)
Samoa (5)
San Marino (4)
São Tomé and Príncipe (2)
Saudi Arabia (77)
Senegal (26)
Seychelles (9)
Sierra Leone (3)
Singapore (14)
Slovakia (114)
Slovenia (74)
Solomon Islands (2)
Somalia (2)
South Africa (127)
South Korea (281)
Spain (326)
Sri Lanka (18)
Sudan (3)
Suriname (4)
Swaziland (6)
Sweden (149)
Switzerland (105)
Syria (8)
Chinese Taipei (74)
Tajikistan (4)
Tanzania (4)
Thailand (52)
Togo (3)
Tonga (3)
Trinidad and Tobago (19)
Tunisia (47)
Turkey (57)
Turkmenistan (8)
Tuvalu (7)
Uganda (13)
Ukraine (230)
United Arab Emirates (4)
United States (586)
Uruguay (14)
Uzbekistan (70)
Vanuatu (3)
Venezuela (50)
Vietnam (7)
Virgin Islands (9)
Yemen (2)
Yugoslavia (111)
Zambia (8)
Zimbabwe (16)

Venues

Sydney Olympic Park

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

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
Western Sydney Parklands: 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

Canberra Stadium, Canberra: Football
Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide: Football
Melbourne Cricket Ground: Football
The Gabba (Brisbane Cricket Ground), Brisbane: Football

Official logo

The bid logo, created by architect and designer Michael Bryce, featured a colourful, stylised image of the Sydney Opera House.

The official logo also referred to as the "Millennium Man", took the image of the bid logo and combined it with a stylised image of a runner to form a torchbearer in motion, formed by two small yellow boomerangs for arms and a larger red boomerang for legs. The Olympic torch is represented through a blue smoke trail, which draws the iconic peaks of the Sydney Opera House.

The design process of the official logo, as well as all other aspects of the Olympic Games' visual design identity, was awarded to Melbourne design studio FHA Image Design. The Sydney Olympics brand identity project officially commenced in 1993.

The Mascots

The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were Syd the platypus, Millie the echidna, and Olly the kookaburra,0 designed by Matthew Hattan and Jozef Szekeres and named by Philip Sheldon of agency Weekes Morris Osborn in response to the original SOCOG recommendation of Murray, Margery and Dawn after famous Australian athletes.

There was also Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, an unofficial mascot popularised by comedy team Roy Slaven and HG Nelson on the TV series The Dream with Roy and HG. Roy and HG also frequently disparaged the official mascots on their television program.

2000 Summer Olympics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seven countries boycotted the Games for three different reasons. Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon announced that they would not participate in response to the Suez Crisis when Egypt was invaded by Israel, the United Kingdom, and France after Egypt nationalized the Suez canal.