Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: Opening Ceremony, Winners and Fun Facts
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was the athletic event held in Sydney in 2000. The games were held between September 15–October 1, 2000, and were the 24th modern Olympic Games. The two strong contenders for the venue for Sydney Olympics 2000 were Sydney and Beijing. The former secured a narrow win as the host city for the 2000 Olympics.
Sydney was favored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to several aspects. The city had a long-standing history of zeal for sports, the sites for the sporting events were recovered toxic wastelands, and the city had proposed a plan to involve the smaller countries of Oceania as partners in hosting activities. Although there were issues like cost overruns and a ticket scandal, the preparations and the Sydney Olympic games themselves took place without any glitches.
Opening Ceremony for Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
The opening ceremonies of the games paid a tribute to the history of Australia, celebrating its unique cultures and showcasing the contributions made by the Aboriginal people of the continent. The highlight of the opening ceremonies was the lighting of the Olympic flame by the Aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman. She later went on to win the gold medal in the 400-meter event. This recognition of Freeman and her accomplishments was an important milestone in helping the struggling Australian Aboriginal people to make a place in Australian society.
The opening ceremony for the games took place on September 15 and commenced with a single horseman galloping to the center of the Olympic Stadium amidst cheers from 110,000 spectators. An important part of the Olympics Games opening ceremony is the Parade of Nations. During the parade, both North and South Korea marched together under the same flag. The crowd cheered enthusiastically for the athletes from East Timor when they paraded behind the IOC flag. The last team in the parade was Australia, with the flag of the country being proudly waved by five-time Olympian and basketball captain Andrew Gaze. The host country had the largest-ever team of 632 athletes.
Betty Cuthbert who was known as the Golden Girl of the Melbourne Olympics and whose movement had been impaired by multiple sclerosis was pushed in a wheelchair by Raelene Boyle at the ceremony. On behalf of all the athletes, hockey player Rechelle Hawkes read the Olympic Oath. It was the end of Hawkes’s career in Sydney as a three-time Olympic champion.
As many as 11,000 athletes from 199 IOC member countries participated in the Sydney Olympics Games. Four of the participating nations were in the Olympics for the first time. These were Eritrea, Timor-Leste, Palau, and Micronesia. A record 928 medals were awarded in the 300 events held in the games.
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Athletes Medals and Results
Among the 2000 Olympics winners were Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, who was nicknamed the “Thorpedo” and was the team’s youngest member at 17 years. He bagged a silver and three golds at the games. Thorpe had also had the honor of carrying the Australian flag in the Closing Ceremony. His two gold medals on the opening night broke a world record in the 400m freestyle.
American sprinter Marion Jones won three gold and two bronze medals in the track-and-field competition. Two gold medals each were won by Dutch swimmers Inge de Bruijn and Pieter van den Hoogeband. For British rower Steven Redgrave it was his fifth consecutive gold medal in the Olympics, an unparalleled feat in rowing. Heavyweight boxer Felix Savon of Cuba matched the record of his countryman Teófilo Stevenson when he won his third consecutive gold medal.
Medals Tally of Top Ten Countries in Sydney Olympics 2000
Interesting Facts About Sydney Olympics 2000
The event in Sydney marked a century of the participation of women in the Olympics and in recognition of this milestone, some of Australia’s finest female athletes carried the torch inside the stadium.
The first three positions were bagged by the United States, Russia, and China.
Along with Cathy Freeman, Ian Thorpe was the most cheered athlete at the games.
For Michael Phelps, Sydney Olympics 2000 was his first time on the American swimming team. Although he finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly final, he won four golds at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Susanthika Jayasinghe became the first Sri Lankan woman to win a medal for the country. Jayasinghe won a bronze medal for the 200m.
Birgit Fischer won two gold medals in kayaking. She became the first woman to have won medals in any sport, 20 years apart.
Ryoko Tamura lost in the judo 48kg final in both Atlanta and Barcelona earlier but went on to win the gold in the Sydney Olympics.
Marion Jones, from the United States, was a winner of three gold and two bronze medals but she returned her medals in October 2007. She admitted to taking tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), a performance-enhancing drug.
Conclusion
Thus, the Olympics is said to be a very important sports event which helps after every 4 years and if we talk about the Olympics 2000 that was organised in Sydney, Australia; it was said to be a multi-sport event in which around people from 199 nations participated. These sports persons are said to have competed in 300 events and that too in 28 sports. At the end of the tournament, maximum medals as well as maximum gold medals were awarded to the United States of America.
FAQs on Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
1. How many medals were won by the host Australia in the Sydney 2000 Olympics Games?
Being the host country, there were high expectations from Australia and the Australian team fully lived up to this. They got an outstanding medal tally at the games across the broad spectrum of sports. The country won a total of 58 medals: 16 gold, 25 silver, and 17 bronze and finished fourth on the medal table.
2. What were the new additions to Sydney 2000 games?
Several events were hosted for the first time at the Sydney Summer Olympics in 2000. These events included trampoline, synchronized diving, triathlon, and taekwondo in both men and women categories. Other new women’s events that were introduced in these games were modern pentathlon, weightlifting, and pole vault. Women also competed in the modern pentathlon and weightlifting for the very first time.
3. Who won the maximum medals in the Sydney 2000 Olympics?
The maximum medals were said to be won by the United States. The second most medals were won by Russia followed by China whereas the host country i.e Australia, was at 4th position with 58 medals.
