History

When Juan Antonio Samaranch said that the 2000 Olympics were the best ever, it could have been taken as hyperbole. But the IOC president was simply echoing what had been said by thousands of spectators who had come to Sydney, Australia, from around the world, including many journalists who had covered several previous Olympics.

In terms of numbers, the Sydney Games surpassed all that had come before. Records were set for events (300), sports (28), countries participating (199), athletes (10,651), and the number of countries winning medals (80).

The quality of the 2000 Olympics went far beyond numbers, though. Bud Greenspan, producer of the official documentary on the games, said that the torch relay and the opening ceremony both earned perfect 10s and that the rest of the organization lived up to that standard. And Greenspan had attended every Olympics since 1952.

More than 50,000 unpaid volunteers worked to make the Games successful, and foreign visitors saluted them, almost unanimously, for their friendliness as well as their efficiency. Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy wrote, "Sydney's greatest tourist attraction is its population."

The only real black spot was that more than 30 athletes failed drug tests. Even that was seen by many as a positive indication that testing was catching up to methods of hiding drug use.

But on to the athletes, who produced some remarkable accomplishments. British rower Steve Redgrave became the first athlete to win gold medals at five consecutive Olympics.

Birgit Fischer of Germany won two gold medals in canoeing, giving her a total of nine medals overall, six gold, and becoming the first woman to win medals 20 years apart.

Cuban heavyweight boxer Felix Savon, Czech javelin thrower Jan Zelezny, and Greek weightlifter Pyrros Dimas all won their third consecutive gold medals. But Turkey's Naim Suleymanoglu, trying for his fourth consecutive gold in weightlifting, was eliminated from medal contention in the 62-kilogram class.

The Australian three-day event team also won a third straight gold medal, the first time that had ever been accomplished in equestrian competition.

There were two major upsets. Domenico Fioravanti of Italy, ranked 14th in the world, won the 100-meter breaststroke. And Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner of the U. S. went from obscurity to world fame by beating Russia's Alexander Kareline for the super heavyweight gold medal. Kareline had won three gold medals and nine consecutive world championships, going 12 years without a single loss.

The most successful of all American athletes in 2000 was considered a failure by some. Sprinter/long jumper Marion Jones went to Sydney hoping to win five gold medals, and sometimes outright predicting it. She won five medals, but "only" three were gold, the other two bronze. The fact that she was the first athlete of either sex to win five medals in track and field at a single Olympics was often overlooked.

Perhaps the most unusual gold medal victory went to the U. S. softball team. The women entered the Olympics as heavy favorites, having won 112 games in a row. But they lost three straight in the Olympic tournament, then came back to take the gold by winning three games in two days.

Top of page