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Schule > Englisch > Ausarbeitungen, Interpretationen und Zusammenfassungen > Reviews and Presentations > Sydney 2000- games of the 27th olypiad

1. General information about the Games

1.1. Introduction 1.2. The Games 1.3. Olympic Torch Relay 1.4. The medals
1. General information about the Games

1.1. Introduction
The Olympic Games of Sydney 2000 were the 27th in the Olympic history and the largest yet with 10651 athletes, consisting of 4069 sportswomen and 6582 sportsmen, competing in 300 events. The Games were during the 15th of September 2000 and the 01st of October 2000. Other candidate cities for the Games in 2000 were Beijing (China), Berlin (Germany), Istanbul (Turkey) and Manchester (Great Britain).
The emblem of the Games represents the figure of an athlete, using typically Australian shapes and colours. The boomerangs and suggestions of sun and rocks, together with the colours of the harbour, beaches and red interior invoke the unique Australian landscape and its original inhabitants. The flash which transforms the silhouette of Sydney Opera House into a trail of smoke from an Olympic torch recalls the emblem of Sydney's Olympic candidature.
the Sydney Opera and the Harbour Bridge during the Games

1.2. The Games
Athletes from 199 National Olympic Committees and 4 individual athletes went for gold during the Games. Despite their size, the Games were well organised, renewing faith in the Olympic Movement. There were also lots of media workers, namely 16033, consisted of 5298 from the written press and 10735 broadcasters, and 46967 volunteers. The Olympic Games Opening Ceremony began at the Olympic Stadium at Homebush Bay at 6:00pm (Sydney time) on the 15th of September 2000. Cathy Freeman (AUS-athletics) had the honour to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony of the Games. She symbolized the desire to reconcile the white and Aboriginal populations of Australia and she was the aborigine medal hope. Ten days later, Cathy Freeman won the 400m final which was a clear victory before an ecstatic crowd in the Olympic Stadium. The Olympic Oath was spoken by Rechelle Hawkes (hockey) and Peter Kerr (water polo). The Games concluded with the Closing Ceremony on 1st of October. Olympic competition featured 28 sports, including Women's Water Polo, Taekwondo and Triathlon, which made their Olympic debuts. The best nation of the Games were the United States with 97 medals (40 gold, 24 silver and 33 bronze medals). The most medals won the Russian gymnast Alexej Nemow with 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. The most successful sportswomen was the Dutch cyclist Leontien Zijlaard with 3 gold and 1 silver medals. The stars of the games were Ian Thorpe and Marion Jones. Altogether 42 world records and lots of other records were set up in Sydney: Birgit Fischer earned two gold medals in Kayak to become the first woman in any sport to win medals 20 years apart. Judoka Ryoko Tamura lost in the final in both Barcelona and Atlanta, but came back and won the gold medal in Sydney. Steven Redgrave became the first rower to win gold medals at five different Olympics. The honorary president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, said that the Games were the best ever.
the Olympic Stadium
Cathy Freeman at the lighting of the Olympic Flame
the Olympic Rings- the symbol of the games

1.3. Olympic Torch Relay
The architecture of the Sydney Opera House, the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the subtle curve of the boomerang inspired the design of the torch. The torch includes three layers which are representative of earth, fire and water. The Torch Relay began 1997 in Greece with the lighting of the torch in Olympia on the10th of May 2000. On its way to Australia from Greece, the Olympic flame visited the near Olympic member nations in the Pacific. Arriving in Australia on the 8th of June 2000, the Olympic Torch Relay commenced its 100-day journey around Australia. The Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay had 11000 torchbearers throughout Australia with each torchbearer carrying the flame up to one kilometre. The Relay stopped in Sydney with the lighting of the Olympic flame at the 01st of October 2000 of Cathy Freeman.
lighting of the torch of Cathy Freeman
some torchbearers during the relay and the torch

1.4. The medals
The customary symbols, including the Victory Goddess holding a winner's crown, are engraved on the obverse face. The Sydney Opera House, the Olympic torch and the Olympic rings are represented on the reverse. The designers were Australian: Woljciech Pietranik and Brian Thompson.
the Olympic gold medal in action: left: the German cyclists Robert Bartko and Jens Lehmann after their world record victory right: the most successful sportswomen of the games: Leontien Zijlaard

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