2000 Summer Olympics#Day 1 - September 15

{{main|Bids for the 2000 Summer Olympics}}

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. Brasília, Milan, and Tashkent made bids before deciding to withdraw during the bidding process.{{Cite web |date=2023-09-22 |title=When Sydney were big winners in Monte Carlo |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1140939/sydney-olympic-vote-1993-blog |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=www.insidethegames.biz}} The Australian city of Melbourne which also hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics had lost out to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics three years earlier.{{cite web|url=http://www.aldaver.com/votes.html|title=IOC VOTE HISTORY|website=www.aldaver.com|access-date=6 October 2011|archive-date=25 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525070757/http://www.aldaver.com/votes.html|url-status=usurped}} Beijing would later be selected to host the 2008 Summer Olympics eight years later on 13 July 2001 and the 2022 Winter Olympics twenty-two years later on 31 July 2015. Milan would also go on to win the 2026 Winter Olympics along with Cortina d'Ampezzo twenty-six years later on 24 June 2019. Beijing's loss to Sydney was seen as a "significant blow" to an "urgent political priority" of the Chinese Communist Party leadership having mounted the most intense and expensive candidacy campaign at the date so far (this includes the Summer and Winter Games). Although it is unknown as two 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 and international isolation following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/24/sports/olympics-there-s-no-joy-in-beijing-as-sydney-gets-olympics.html|title=OLYMPICS; There's No Joy in Beijing as Sydney Gets Olympics|newspaper=The New York Times|date=24 September 1993|last1=Tyler|first1=Patrick E.|access-date=22 August 2021|archive-date=5 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005233713/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/24/sports/olympics-there-s-no-joy-in-beijing-as-sydney-gets-olympics.html|url-status=live}} 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 a new phase in the tensions in Sino-American relations.{{Cite journal | doi=10.1177/0022009416667791|title = Harnessing Human Rights to the Olympic Games: Human Rights Watch and the 1993 'Stop Beijing' Campaign| journal=Journal of Contemporary History| volume=53| issue=2| pages=415–438|year = 2018|last1 = Keys|first1 = Barbara| url=http://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/11343/217038/5/Keys%20Human%20Rights%20JCH%20author%20version.pdf|hdl = 11343/217038|s2cid = 159945661|hdl-access=free| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924105812/https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/217038/Keys%20Human%20Rights%20JCH%20author%20version.pdf?sequence=5| archive-date=24 September 2019| url-status=live}}

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|Manchester || {{flag|Great Britain}} || style="text-align:center;"|11 || style="text-align:center;"|13 || style="text-align:center;"|11 || style="text-align:center;"|—

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|Berlin || {{flag|Germany}} || style="text-align:center;"|9 || style="text-align:center;"|9 || style="text-align:center;"|— || style="text-align:center;"|—

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|Istanbul || {{flag|Turkey}} || style="text-align:center;"|7 || style="text-align:center;"|—|| style="text-align:center;"|— || style="text-align:center;"|—

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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.{{Cite book|ssrn=2804554|title=The Oxford Olympics Study 2016: Cost and Cost Overrun at the Games|last1=Flyvbjerg|first1=Bent|last2=Stewart|first2=Allison|last3=Budzier|first3=Alexander|publisher=Saïd Business School Working Papers (Oxford: University of Oxford)|year=2016|location=Oxford|pages=9, 13}} This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organizing committee to stage 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, airport infrastructure, hotel upgrades, or other business investments 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.liebreich.com/LDC/HTML/Olympics/London/Sydney.html |title=Sydney 2000 – Auditor Slams Costs |website=liebreich.com |date=23 April 2003 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050207142926/http://www.liebreich.com/LDC/HTML/Olympics/London/Sydney.html |archive-date = 7 February 2005}}{{cite web |url=http://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/agrep02v2/costofolympicgames.pdf |title=Cost of the Olympic and Paralympic Games |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050620055157/http://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/agrep02v2/costofolympicgames.pdf |archive-date=20 June 2005 |pages=10–11 |quote=Olympic Co-ordination Authority ... OCA's current report on the actual result ... Total net impact in A$$ million: ... 1,326.1}} In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and health programs to cover Olympic expenses.{{cite book|last1=Findling|first1=John E.|last2=Pelle|first2=Kimberly D.|title=Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmXi_-Jujj0C&pg=PA252|year=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313322785|page=252|access-date=12 October 2015|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016120917/https://books.google.com/books?id=QmXi_-Jujj0C&pg=PA252|url-status=live}}

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 was not realised, as a simple "multiplier" analysis fails to capture 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 centers, softball compounds, and man-made rapids are not particularly useful beyond their immediate function."{{cite news| url = http://business.smh.com.au/no-medals-for-economic-benefits-of-the-games/20080411-25ks.html| title = No medals for economic benefits of the Games| last = Saulwick| first = Jacob| date = 12 April 2008| access-date = 16 April 2008| work = Business Day| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120818202141/http://www.smh.com.au/business/no-medals-for-economic-benefits-of-the-games-20080411-25ks.html?page=2| archive-date = 18 August 2012| url-status = dead| df = dmy-all}} The article is based largely on a recent study by James Giesecke and John Madden from the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University.

Many venues that were constructed in Sydney Olympic Park failed financially in the years immediately following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses. It was only the 2003 Rugby World Cup that reconnected the park back to citizens.{{cite book|last1=Poynter|first1=Gavin|last2=MacRury|first2=Iain|title=Olympic Cities: 2012 and the Remaking of London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YOlHevOfgn8C&pg=PA137|date=6 October 2009|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=9780754671008|page=137|access-date=12 October 2015|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016120917/https://books.google.com/books?id=YOlHevOfgn8C&pg=PA137|url-status=live}} In recent years,{{when|date=July 2024}} infrastructure costs for some facilities have been of growing concern to the NSW Government, especially facilities in Western Sydney. Proposed metro and light rail links from Olympic Park to Parramatta have been estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games.{{cite news |last1=Saulwick |first1=Jacob |title=Prospect of demolishing Dunc Gray Velodrome threatens NSW Cycling |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/prospect-of-demolishing-dunc-gray-velodrome-threatens-nsw-cycling-20161209-gt7fes.html |access-date=17 February 2022 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |publisher=Nine |date=9 December 2016 |language=en}}{{citation needed|date=September 2011}} Stadium Australia had been considered for demolition in 2017 by then NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, citing that the stadium was "built for an Olympics" but not for modern spectators.{{cite news |last1=Macmillan |first1=Jade |title=The demolition and redesign of Sydney's Olympic Stadium explained |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-24/nsw-government-reveals-why-olympic-stadium-is-being-knocked-down/9187608 |access-date=17 February 2022 |work=ABC News |date=24 November 2017 |language=en-AU}} The plan was scrapped in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |last1=Pavitt |first1=Michael |title=Plans to redevelop Sydney Olympic Stadium scrapped over COVID-19 economic impact |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1094815/sydney-stadium-redevelopment-scrapped |access-date=17 February 2022 |work=Inside the Games |date=31 May 2020}} The Dunc Gray Velodrome has also struggled to keep up its $500,000-per-year maintenance costs, although it is still used for track cycling events.{{cite news |last1=Veage |first1=John |title=Clarence St Cup carnival |url=https://www.theleader.com.au/story/7134474/clarence-st-cup-carnival/ |access-date=17 February 2022 |work=St George & Sutherland Shire Leader |date=23 February 2021 |language=en-AU}}

Although the 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.

{{See also|2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony}}

File:2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony 1.JPEG at Stadium Australia, on 15 September 2000.]]

The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the 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 Seven Network.Commentary on the official DVD of the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics 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, sounded by a new version of the song that Bruce Rowland had previously composed for the 1982 film The Man from Snowy River.

The Australian National Anthem was sung in the first verse by Human Nature and the second by Julie Anthony.

The cultural segments of the event take place with 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 inhabitation 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"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").

{{seealso|Death and state funeral of Pierre Trudeau}}

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, and as the state funeral did not take place until 3 October, two days after the closing ceremony, so they have enough time to head back to Canada after the Games and attending his funeral. 

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.{{cite web | title = Patrick Mboma|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/halloffame/m/n214045822.shtml | access-date =9 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517151346/http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/halloffame/m/n214045822.shtml |archive-date=17 May 2013}}

{{See also|2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony}}

File:Fireworks, Sydney Harbour Bridge, 2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.jpg.]]

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,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/02/sports/sydney-2000-closing-ceremony-a-fond-farewell-from-australia.html|title=Sydney 2000: Closing Ceremony; A fond farewell from Australia|date=2 October 2000|first=Jere|last=Longman|work=The New York Times|access-date=12 May 2010|archive-date=9 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709000239/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/02/sports/sydney-2000-closing-ceremony-a-fond-farewell-from-australia.html|url-status=live}}

{{blockquote|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 2000 Summer Olympic program featured 300 events in the following 28 sports:

Although demonstration sports were abolished following the 1992 Summer Olympics, the Sydney Olympics featured wheelchair racing as exhibition events on the athletics schedule.{{cite web|title=Reflections on the Olympic Wheelchair Racing Exhibition Races |url=http://www.ncpad.org/yourwrites/fact_sheet.php?sheet=267 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613075038/http://ncpad.org/yourwrites/fact_sheet.php?sheet=267 |archive-date=13 June 2010 |url-status=live |access-date=15 June 2009 }}

Special quarantine conditions were introduced to allow entry of horses into Australia to participate in equestrian events,{{cite web|title=Strict quarantine conditions for overseas horses competing in the Sydney 2000 Games|url=http://www.agriculture.gov.au/about/media-centre/dept-releases/1999/strict_quarantine_conditions_for_overseas_horses_competing_in_the_sydney_2000_games|publisher=Department of Agriculture|access-date=23 December 2014|date=26 November 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507085950/http://www.agriculture.gov.au/about/media-centre/dept-releases/1999/strict_quarantine_conditions_for_overseas_horses_competing_in_the_sydney_2000_games |archive-date=7 May 2015}} avoiding the need for such events to take place elsewhere as had happened at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

File:2000 Summer Olympic games countries.svg

File:2000 Summer Olympics team numbers.svg

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, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau made their Olympic debut this year.

Democratic Republic of the Congo was once again designated under that name, after it participated as Zaire from 1984 to 1996.

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 Taliban's totalitarian rule in Afghanistan, their oppression of women, and its prohibition of sports.

10,647 athletes from 199 NOCs participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

{{main|2000 Summer Olympics medal table}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/Sydney-2000/|title=Sydney 2000|access-date=17 January 2013|publisher=International Olympic Committee|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225174238/https://www.olympic.org/sydney-2000|url-status=live}} Some other sources{{cite web|title=2000 Summer Games |url=http://www.databaseolympics.com/games/gamesyear.htm?g=25 |publisher=Database Olympics |access-date=17 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115080441/http://databaseolympics.com/games/gamesyear.htm?g=25 |archive-date=15 January 2013 }} may be inconsistent due to not taking into account all later doping cases.

{{Medals table

| caption =

| host =

| show_limit =

| remaining_text =

| flag_template = flagIOC

| event = 2000 Summer

| team =

| gold_USA = 37 | silver_USA = 24 | bronze_USA = 32

| gold_RUS = 32 | silver_RUS = 28 | bronze_RUS = 29

| gold_CHN = 28 | silver_CHN = 16 | bronze_CHN = 15

| gold_AUS = 16 | silver_AUS = 25 | bronze_AUS = 17 | host_AUS = yes

| gold_GER = 13 | silver_GER = 17 | bronze_GER = 26

| gold_FRA = 13 | silver_FRA = 14 | bronze_FRA = 11

| gold_ITA = 13 | silver_ITA = 8 | bronze_ITA = 13

| gold_NED = 12 | silver_NED = 9 | bronze_NED = 4

| gold_CUB = 11 | silver_CUB = 11 | bronze_CUB = 7

| gold_GBR = 11 | silver_GBR = 10 | bronze_GBR = 7

}}

{{Color box|#ccccff| * |border=darkgray}} Host nation (Australia)

File:SOCOG org structure 1998.gif

File:SOCOG org structure 1999.gif

A number of quasi-government bodies were responsible for the construction, organisation and execution of the Sydney Games. These included:

• the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and the Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC), primarily responsibles for the staging of the Games
• Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA), primarily responsible for construction and oversight
• Olympic Roads & Transport Authority (ORTA)
• Olympic Security Command Centre (OSCC)
• Olympic Intelligence Centre (OIC)
• JTF Gold the Australian Defence Force Joint Taskforce Gold
• Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (nominally part of SOCOG)
• IBM, provider of technology and the Technical Command Centre
• Telstra, provider of telecommunications
• Great Big Events, event management and marketing

These organisations worked closely together and with other bodies such as:

• the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
• the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
• the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC)
• the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC)
• the other 197 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)
• the other 125 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs)
• the 33 International Sports Federations (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".

The organisation of the 2000 Summer Paralympics was the responsibility of the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC). 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.

The organisation of the Games included not only the actual sporting events, but also the management (and sometimes construction) of the sporting venues and surrounding precincts, the Olympic torch relay, which began in Greece and travelled to Australia via numerous Oceania island nations, and the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival.

The staging of the Olympics were treated as a project on a vast scale, 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

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. SOCOG moved to a matrix structure. The Interstate Football division extant in 1998 was the first of these geographically based venue teams.

The origins of the volunteer program 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 program was managed internally by SOCOG's Volunteer Services Department in consultation with prominent peak groups like The Centre for Volunteering (Volunteering 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 placed at 46,967){{cite web|title=Sydney 2000 International Olympic Committee |url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529060201/http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=2000 |archive-date=29 May 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2009 }} 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.{{cite book|title=Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad, Volume One: Preparing for the Games|date=2001|publisher=Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games|isbn=978-0-9579616-0-9|page=178|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/2000v1.pdf#page=180|access-date=19 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825203836/http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/2000v1.pdf#page=180|archive-date=25 August 2016|url-status=dead}}

{{main|2000 Summer Olympics venues}}

{{Main|Sydney Olympic Park}}

File:Homebush stadium.jpg]]

File:Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.jpg]]

File:Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre.jpg]]

• Stadium Australia: 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

File:1Dunc Gray Velodrome.jpg]]

• Sydney Convention & 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.

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

{{further|Olympic Arts Festival}}

The original festivals in Olympia celebrated both cultural events and physical feats. The tradition continued with the first modern Olympics in 1896, and since then various cultural events have accompanied the sporting competition. Starting with the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, a cycle of four arts festivals have been staged by each host country.{{cite web | title=Running a Tech Marathon: The Olympic Arts Festival| first=Andy |last= Ciddor | website=Live Design Online | date=1 January 2001 | url=https://www.livedesignonline.com/running-a-tech-marathon-olympic-arts-festival | access-date=9 March 2025}} The Sydney Olympic Arts Festival was an arts festival that ran before and during the Olympics.{{cite web |title=Skin |website=AusStage |url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/25814 |access-date=1 October 2024}} The festival event coordinator was David Gallen.

The first of the four festivals was the first edition of the Festival of the Dreaming, which was founded by artistic director Rhoda Roberts (who later co-directed segments of the Opening Ceremony), was held in 1997, as the first of four leading up to the Sydney Olympics. Some events were held at the Sydney Opera House, and the festival included an Aboriginal cast performing Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot performed in the Bundjalung language.{{cite magazine |title=Aboriginal Culture Awakens Australia |url=https://www.wired.com/1997/10/aboriginal-culture-awakens-australia/|date=2 October 1997 |magazine=Wired |access-date=11 March 2021}}

The second festival was "A Sea Change", in which artists and companies from Australia and Oceania explored "the influence of the sea on Australian life as a means to explore the changing political and cultural climates in Australia".

The third festival, "Reaching the World" took the form of an international tour, from November 1998 until January 2000, travelling to all five regions represented by the Olympic rings (Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania) and showcasing Australian culture by means of exhibitions, performances, and various media.

The fourth and final festival, while featuring many international artists and companies, served as a showcase for the diversity and depth of the arts in Australia. Opening four weeks before the Olympic games, the Sydney 2000 Olympics Arts Festival ran until the last day of athletic competition, from 18 August to 26 September 2000. Starting with an all-day Aboriginal welcoming ceremony, Tubowgule ("the Meeting of the Waters"), choreographed by Stephen Page, began at La Perouse beach near Botany Bay, and concluded at Bennelong Point, in the forecourt of Sydney Opera House. There, contemporary Indigenous dance company Bangarra Dance Theatre performed Energy of Australia.{{cite web | title=Energy of Australia | website=AusStage | date=18 August 2000 | url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/122982 | access-date=9 March 2025}} The gala opening event for the festival was the musically pyrotechnical "Symphony of a Thousand" by Mahler at the Sydney SuperDome. The festival included many performing arts events, mostly presented at the Sydney Opera House. Concerts were performed by many orchestras, including Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Asian Youth Orchestra, and the Australian Youth Orchestra, and operas were presented. There were also dance, singing, and drama performances, staged mainly at the Opera House but also at Her Majesty's Theatre and the Capitol Theatre.{{cite web |title=Olympic Arts Festivals |website=AusStage |url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/organisation/11157 |access-date=1 October 2024}}

The overall branding of the Games was designed by Melbourne-based FHA Image Design; the emblem—nicknamed the "Millennium Man"—consists of a stylised, multi-coloured depiction of a torch-bearer in motion, with arms and legs resembling boomerangs, and a smoke trail resembling the roof of the Sydney Opera House (a motif that had also been used in the logo for Sydney's bid). The firm's then-creative director Richard Henderson explained that they aimed for the emblem be simple enough for a child to draw, avoid "quaint", overused imagery such as kangaroos and koalas, and "engender [the] pride in Australian creative quality and optimism for the new millennium that the Games would herald".{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=Leanne |date=9 June 2011 |title=The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Bid: Marketing Indigenous Australia for the Millennium Games |url=https://www.academia.edu/4678375 |url-status=live |journal=The International Journal of the History of Sport |volume=28 |issue=10 |page=1455 |doi=10.1080/09523367.2011.578341 |s2cid=144221442 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815075442/https://www.academia.edu/4678375 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |access-date=17 August 2014 |ref=Millennium Man}}{{cite magazine |date=27 September 2012 |title=Top Ten Australian Logos – 8th |url=http://desktopmag.com.au/features/top-ten-australian-logos-8/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208225805/http://desktopmag.com.au/features/top-ten-australian-logos-8/ |archive-date=8 December 2014 |access-date=26 November 2014 |magazine=Desktop |publisher=Desktop Magazine |ref=Desktop Mag}}{{Citation |title=Sydney 2000 Olympic Games image guidelines |date=1998 |url=https://library.olympics.com/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/59883/sydney-2000-olympic-games-image-guidelines-sydney-organizing-committee-for-the-olympic-games?_lg=en-GB |access-date=2025-03-29 |publisher=Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games}}

{{main|Olly, Syd and Millie}}

The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were Syd the platypus, Millie the echidna, and Olly the kookaburra,{{cite web|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/10/74/article211987410.shtml|title=Syd, Olly and Millie – mascots of the 2000 Olympic Summer Games|publisher=Beijing2008|date=5 August 2004|access-date=25 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517163244/http://en.beijing2008.cn/10/74/article211987410.shtml |archive-date=17 May 2013}} 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.

An unofficial alternate mascot—Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat—was created by Australian comedians Roy and HG for their miniseries during the Games, The Dream; the character was conceived as a satire of the increasing commercialization of the Olympics, with the duo often being critical of the official mascots (whom they jokingly nicknamed "Olly, Millie and Dickhead"). Only two plush toys of Fatso were made, one of which was placed in the Olympic Village; the plush was controversially smuggled into a medal ceremony by the Australian men's 4×200-metre relay team. The character achieved a cult following, with some Australians preferring Fatso to the actual mascots. One of the Fatso plushes was auctioned for charity following the Games (being sold to Kerry Stokes, an executive of the Seven Network, for A$80,450), while a figure of Fatso was included in an display outside Stadium Australia that commemorated the Games' volunteers.{{cite news |author=Jim Parsons |date=26 September 2000 |title='Fat-arsed' wombat mascot causes uproar in Australia |url=http://www.stp.uh.edu/vol66/26/sports/sports3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050508001640/http://www.stp.uh.edu/vol66/26/sports/sports3.html |archive-date=8 May 2005 |access-date=2006-04-11 |work=The Daily Cougar}}{{cite web|url=http://www.strategicresources.com.au/fatso.html|title=The Rise of Fatso – The Fat Arsed Sydney Olympics Wombat|publisher=Strategic Resources International|access-date=10 October 2008|date=February 2001|archive-date=28 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828171141/http://www.strategicresources.com.au/fatso.html|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|first=Jim|last=Marr|url=http://workers.labor.net.au/81/d_review_roy.html|title=Satire: Roy Slaven on the Rampage|journal=Workers Online|issue=81|date=8 December 2000|access-date=30 June 2006|archive-date=4 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904145521/http://workers.labor.net.au/81/d_review_roy.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Singer |first=Jill |date=30 March 2006 |title=Is John So still our bro? |url=http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18646788%255E5000107,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629045113/http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0%2C5478%2C18646788%255E5000107%2C00.html |archive-date=29 June 2006 |access-date=2006-04-11 |publisher=Herald Sun Sunday}}{{cite news |last=Browne |first=Rachel |date=18 July 2004 |title=Roy, HG leave Fatso home |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/17/1089694613537.html |accessdate=2006-06-30 |work=Sun Herald}}{{cite magazine |magazine=Sports Illustrated |title=Amply-rumped wombat was real darling of the Games |date=1 October 2000 |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/news/2000/10/01/montville_mascot/ |access-date=10 October 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006084838/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/news/2000/10/01/montville_mascot/| archive-date= 6 October 2008 | url-status=dead}}

File:Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Medals-1 (5675497010).jpg

A total of 750 gold, 750 silver and 780 bronze medals were minted for the Games. The gold and silver medals contained 99.99 percent of pure silver. The bronze medals were 99 percent bronze with one percent silver, they were made by melting down Australian one-cent and two-cent coins,{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/publications/tabledpapers.nsf/displaypaper/3610904a2a248a913e4212fb48256b0500179d95/$file/gc2001.pdf |title=Gold Corporation, 2001 Annual Report |date=8 November 2001 |last=Griffiths |first=Nick |page=17 |website=parliament.wa.gov.au |access-date=2 May 2007 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026074003/https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/publications/tabledpapers.nsf/displaypaper/3610904a2a248a913e4212fb48256b0500179d95/$file/gc2001.pdf |url-status=live }} in section: "Other Olympic and Paralympic Products"{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/07/19/3549166.htm |title=Treasure Trove: medals from the Sydney Olympics |date=19 July 2012 |last=Vyver |first=James |work=ABC Online |access-date=16 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160727105718/https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/07/19/3549166.htm |archive-date=27 July 2016 |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ramint.gov.au/story/secret-medal |title=The Secret of the Medal |date=8 February 2016 |work=Royal Australian Mint |access-date=16 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405234336/https://www.ramint.gov.au/story/secret-medal |archive-date=5 April 2018 |url-status=live}} which had been removed from circulation from 1992 onward.

The bouquets handed to medal recipients incorporated foliage from the Grevillea baileyana, also known as the white oak.{{Cite journal | last = Olde | first = Peter | title = The Olympic Bouquets | journal = Grevillea Study Group Newsletter | issue = 57 | page = 8 | year = 2000 | url = http://anpsa.org.au/grevSG/grev57.pdf | issn = 0725-8755 | access-date = 14 November 2011 | archive-date = 18 January 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120118102257/http://anpsa.org.au/grevSG/grev57.pdf | url-status = live }}

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.{{cite web|title=Olympic History |url=http://olympics.india-server.com/olympics-history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721020548/http://olympics.india-server.com/olympics-history.html |archive-date=21 July 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2009 }}

After the games' end, the New South Wales Police Force was granted use of the Olympic Rings in a new commendation and citation as the IOC consideration after having staged the "safest" games ever.

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.moawards.com.au/awardwinners|title=MO Award Winners|website=Mo Awards|access-date=16 March 2022}}

{{awards table}} (wins only)

|-

| 2000 Summer

| Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

| Special Event of the Year

| {{won}}

|-

{{end}}

• In Tom Clancy's thriller Rainbow Six and its video game adaptation, the 2000 Olympic Games are the setting of a plot by eco-terrorists who plan to spread a deadly biological agent through Stadium Australia's cooling system.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/03/tom-clancy-top-five-novels|title=Tom Clancy: The top five novels|author=John Dugdale|date=3 October 2013|work=The Guardian|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=27 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327144927/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/03/tom-clancy-top-five-novels|url-status=live}}

• In Morris Gleitzman's children's book Toad Rage, a cane toad travels to Sydney in a bid to become the Olympic mascot.{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2004/08/08/second-grade-rules-amber-brownby-paula-danziger/|title=Second Grade Rules, Amber Brown By Paula Danziger|date=8 August 2004|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=27 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327212139/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-08-08/entertainment/0408070092_1_books-palm-tree-read|url-status=live}}

• The Games was an ABC mockumentary television series that ran in 1998 and 2000. The series satirized corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratic ineptness in the New South Wales public service, and unethical behaviour within politics and the media. An unusual feature of the show was that the characters shared the same name as the actors who played them.{{Cite news |last=Buckmaster |first=Luke |date=2023-03-28 |title=The Games: Clarke and Dawe's Sydney Olympics mockumentary deserves a gold medal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/mar/29/the-games-clarke-and-dawes-sydney-olympics-mockumentary-deserves-a-gold-medal |access-date=2024-02-09 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

• In the universe of the Cyberpunk tabletop role-playing game, the 2000 Olympics were never held due to bankruptcy and a boycott by nations supporting Aboriginal land claims.{{cite book |last=Pondsmith |first=Mike |date=1994 |title=Pacific Rim Sourcebook |publisher=R. Talsorian Games |url=https://archive.org/details/cyberpunk-2020-pacific-rim-sourcebook/mode/2up }}

{{IOC seealso|games=2000 Summer Olympics }}

• The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony
• Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi
• John Coates
• Use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympic Games – Sydney 2000

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Commons category}}

{{external media|video1={{youTube|7xHMsL6sSLQ|The Sydney 2000 Olympics - The official Film}}}}

• {{IOC games|games=2000 Summer Olympics }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/19970519175739/http://www.sydney.olympic.org/index.htm 2000 Summer Olympics Official site]
• Official Report [https://web.archive.org/web/20160825203836/http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/2000v1.pdf Vol. 1], [https://web.archive.org/web/20160912024736/http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/2000v2.pdf Vol. 2], [https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20020314130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/24164/20020315-0000/www.gamesinfo.com.au/postgames/en/pgr/Results.pdf Vol. 3]{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.olympics.com/eng/ |title=2000 Summer Olympics Official Site |access-date=13 September 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001109071400/http://www.olympics.com/eng/ |archive-date=9 November 2000 }}
• [http://pandora.nla.gov.au/col/4006 2000 Summer Olympics – collection of archived websites]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100523182309/http://gamesinfo.com.au/ Sydney Olympic Games Information]
• [http://www.sydneyolympicpark.com.au/ Sydney Olympic Park]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20151125035434/http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/sydney-olympic-games-2000 Sydney Olympic Games, 2000 – Australian Government]
• [http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/sydney2000games/ Sydney 2000 Games Collection at the Powerhouse Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509073530/http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/sydney2000games/ |date=9 May 2008 }} – information and audio files
• {{cite web |url=http://www.ga.gov.au/acres/gallery/olympics2000.htm |title=Satellite view of 2000 Sydney Olympics sites |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040418233751/http://www.ga.gov.au/acres/gallery/olympics2000.htm |archive-date=18 April 2004}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061230013717/http://www.spiritofsydney.com/ Spirit of Sydney Volunteers Website] – Website maintained by and for Sydney 2000 Volunteer Alumni
• [http://www.sydney2000reunion.com/ Official 10th Anniversary Volunteers Website] – Official 10th Anniversary Volunteers Website

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{{Olympic Games}}

{{Nations at the 2000 Summer Olympics}}

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2000

Category:2000 in Australian sport

Category:2000 in multi-sport events

Category:Turn of the third millennium

Category:International sports competitions hosted at Sydney Olympic Park

Category:September 2000 sports events in Australia

Category:October 2000 sports events in Australia

Category:2000s in Sydney