Olympic Games 2000

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 16 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.

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.
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 since 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 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.

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 (suspended due to the Taliban regime's prohibition against practising any kind 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. 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.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.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]. 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).

Sports

Archery Athletics Baseball Basketball Badminton Boxing Canoe/Kayak Cycling Diving Equestrian Fencing

Football (soccer) Gymnastics Handball Hockey Judo Modern pentathlon Rowing Sailing Shooting Softball

Swimming Synchronized swimming Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Water polo Weightlifting Wrestling

The Sydney Olympics also featured wheelchair racing and chess as demonstration sports.

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