Australian 2000 Olympic Games

2000 Sydney

There were approximately 4 million people living in Sydney in the year 2000, making it the largest populated city in Australia.

Australian Sporting Heroes in 2000

Cathy Freeman	won the women's 400m.
Ian Thorpe	won 4 gold medals.
Michael Diamond	won gold in men's trap shooting for the 2nd time in a row, after winning gold in Atlanta in 1996.

The 2000 Olympic Games

The 2000 Sydney Olympic Games opened on 15th September 2000 and closed on 1st October 2000. The Games involved 10,651 athletes competing in 28 sports and 300 events. Staged in 20 different sporting venues, 199 countries participated in the Games. The Olympic Village was one of the world's largest solar-powered suburbs and accommodated more than 15,300 people during the Olympics and 7,500 during the Paralympics. The Games also involved 46,967 volunteers and 16,033 media. The Olympic Stadium, purpose built for the Games, seated 110,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium built.

Cathy Freeman, who would later win a Gold Medal for Australia, was chosen to light the Cauldron in the Opening Ceremony. The Ceremony projected the history, environment and culture of the nation in spectacular fashion. The Ceremony also gave prominence to one of the most profound challenges confronting Australia, the issue of Reconciliation between indigenous Australians and the overwhelmingly white population whose first representatives arrived as settlers more than 200 years ago.

The Sydney Games were declared as "the best Games ever" by IOC President Samaranch. Sydney 2000 featured modern pentathlon, weightlifting, water polo, taekwondo and triathlon events for women for the first time.

Medal Tally Of The Top 10 Performing Countries

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total



1	United States of America	39	24	33	97



2	Russian Federation	32	28	28	88



3	People's Republic of China	28	16	15	59



4	Australia	16	25	17	58



5	Germany	13	17	26	57



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

Australia's Medal Tally Breakdown

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total



Archery	1	0	0	1



Athletics	1	3	0	4



Basketball	0	1	0	1



Beach Volleyball	1	0	0	1



Cycling	1	2	3	6



Equestrian	1	1	0	2



Gymnastics	0	1	0	1



Hockey	1	0	1	2



Judo	0	0	1	1



Kayaking	0	1	1	2



Rowing	0	3	2	5



Sailing	2	1	1	4



Shooting	1	1	1	3



Softball	0	0	1	1



Swimming	5	9	6	20



Tae Kwon Do	1	1	0	2



Tennis	0	1	0	1



Water Polo	1	0	0	1



	16	25	17	58

Further Highlights