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Praising the Tall Poppy ~ Celebrating Our Heroes
See also Australian Gold Medal Winners
2004 Athens
2000 Sydney
1996 Atlanta
1992 to 1956
1952 to 1896
Top Australian Gold Medal Winner Medal Count
 Future Olympic Games
XXIV 2008 Beijing, People's Republic of China, 8 to 24 Aug
The Host
Olympic Games are hosted by a city and not by a country. In other words, the host of the 2000 Olympic Games was Sydney not Australia.
The Numbering
Although the summer Olympic Games have been cancelled due to World Wars I and II, the numbering of the Games has included those years. The winter Games are numbered separately from the summer Games.
The Medals
The medals are 7 centimetres (approximately 2 inches) in diameter. The silver medal is at least 92.5% pure silver. The gold medal, however, is silver with a gilding of at least six grams of pure gold. In the first two Olympic games, silver represented first place and gold second. This was changed at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis.
Every medal has the Victory Goddess holding a winner's crown engraved on the obverse face (front). The name of the
 sport contested is also engraved on it. All Olympic Games competitors receive a commemorative medal and a diploma for participating.
The Sydney 2000 medals had on the reverse (back) the Sydney Opera House, the Olympic rings and the Olympic torch. It was designed by Aussies Woljciech Pietranik and Brian Thompson.
The Symbols
As most people know, the symbol of the Games are five interlacing rings in blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings represent the five continents: Africa, America, Asia, Australia and Europe. Some people incorrectly think the colours stand for the continents as well. The real reason those colours were chosen is because every country's flag in the world contains at least one of the five colours.
The Olympic flame was added in 1934. It symbolizes purity of the Olympic philosophy - to work towards the lasting unity of mankind. The Sydney 2000 torch design had three layers to represent earth, fire and water and was inspired by the subtle curve of the boomerang, the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the dramatic architecture of the Sydney Opera House.
Today's games also have mascots and emblems. The Sydney 2000 games emblem represented the figure of an athlete. The blue trail of smoke from the torch is a silhouette of the Sydney Opera House. The three colours represent the blue harbour, the golden beaches and the red boomerang of the interior of Australian and its original inhabitants.
The Sydney 2000 games had three native Australian animals to represent earth, air and water: Syd the platypus (water), Millie the echidna (earth) and Olly the kookaburra (air). Syd represented the environment and the energy of Australians and Australia. Olly represented generosity and Millie represented technology and information. The mascot names came from: Olly - Olympic, Syd - Sydney and Millie - Millennium.
More Information
- Official website of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
The website includes Olympic history, Paralympics Games, store, kids area and of course the information about the  Sydney games.
- International Olympic Committee official website
The past, present and future of the Olympic movement. Includes information about the Sydney and Athens Olympic games, an Olympic Collectors Commission, and an Olympic Museum. http://www.olympic.org/
- Cathy Freeman
- Ian Thorpe
- Susie O'Neill
- Kieren Perkins
- Shane Gould
- Dawn Fraser
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