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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 October 2000 Issue No. 502 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 October 2000 Issue No. 502
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Firsts, whooshes, twists
From the pool to the track, the baseball field to the wrestling ring, athletes in Sydney 2000 made the marks of a lifetime.
Riders made equestrian events jump The US "Dream Team" against France in the final
Marathon man Abera
Canoers propel their craft forward Pugilists in the clinch
It was the Olympics of the Thorpedo. Of Cathy Freeman, the Aboriginal sprinter who shouldered a nation's racial burden. Of Eric Moussambani, the swimmer from Equatorial Guinea who barely finished and captured the imagination of an underdog-friendly world.
It was an Olympics of whooshes -- Ian Thorpe and Susie O'Neill and Jenny Thompson and Inge de Bruijn whooshing through the water. Marion Jones and Maurice Greene whooshing along the track. Stacy Dragila and Tatiana Grigorieva whooshing over the bar and claiming spots in pole vaulting history.
It was an Olympics of surprises and unexpected twists: the US softball team rallying for gold after a series of stunning losses; American wrestler Rulon Gardner defeating the most formidable foe of all, Russian Alexander Karelin; the US men's basketball team nearly falling to Lithuania; Lance Armstrong losing the 33-mile time trial to his close friend Viacheslav Ekimov of Russia. It was an Olympics of firsts, especially for women. Trampoline and tae kwon do and synchronised diving made their debuts, as did women's pole vault, women's water polo and women's weightlifting.
And it was the Olympics of doping and cheating, showcased as never before thanks to more stringent IOC testing policies and punishments. Positive tests claimed five medals, including a gold captured by Andreea Raducan, the little Romanian girl whose doctor prescribed cold medicine that turned out to be banned. During the Olympics themselves, athletes underwent about 3,600 tests -- more than in any previous Games. Less than 0.5 per cent tested positive; officials say that percentage is declining. Eight athletes tested positive in Sydney with more than 50 others caught in pre-games tests around the world. The eight drug positives were quadruple the two recorded at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and the most at a Summer Games since 10 in Seoul in 1988.
But by the Games' end, there was only celebration as Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, gave the tens of thousands packed into Olympic Stadium the words they wanted to hear: "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever." And what Australian Olympic closing ceremony could be complete without one last rendition of the cheer now known around the world (though not usually in Samaranch's Spanish accent): "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!" chanted the 80-year-old IOC chief.
The United States led the way in the final medal tally, collecting 97 (39 gold, 25 silver and 33 bronze). Russia was second with 88 (32, 28 and 28), and China third with 59 (28, 16, 15). Australia was fourth, with 58.
Chinese officials argued that despite their Olympic team's unprecedented 28 gold medals at Sydney, China still is not an overall sporting superpower to rival the United States or Russia. China's gold medals were 12 more than its previous best but they came from just nine sports. Despite Chinese athletes' overwhelming dominance in some events, China still lags in others, among them swimming, where it won no medals, track and field, many team sports and less popular sports like the pentathlon.
In track and field, the Sydney Olympics turned out to be the women's games. After years of runners named Michael or Carl or Ben dominating Olympic headlines, the biggest track stars at the 2000 Games had names such as Marion, Cathy, Stacy and Heike. The biggest embarrassment at the track also was a woman. Romanian Mihaela Melinte, the women's hammer throw world champion and world record holder, was escorted off the field in front of tens of thousands of spectators because she had tested positive for the steroid nandrolone.
From Marion Jones' unprecedented five medals to Cathy Freeman's dramatic run for Aboriginal pride, from Stacy Dragila's victory in the inaugural Olympic women's pole vault to 35-year-old Heike Drechsler's long jump win, women were the big track winners at the 2000 Summer Games.
And those performances are helping persuade world track officials to keep increasing the women's programme. Three events -- the pole vault, hammer throw and 20,000-metre walk -- were added to the women's programme this time.
The 2000 Olympics produced no track and field world record. The only other time that happened was at the 1948 London Games, when the Olympics resumed after an absence of 12 years during World War II. Part of the reason for the dearth of records may have been the track at the 110,000-seat Olympic Stadium -- it was not the rock-hard surface that led to several marks in Atlanta. Or maybe it was the cool, often muggy spring weather that left neither sprinters nor distance runners entirely happy, and winds that made the field events difficult.
Although she failed in her quest to win an unprecedented five gold medals, Jones won three of the four golds attained by US women. She won the 100 and 200, and her third-leg run in the 1,600-metre relay was the key in that squad's win. The only other gold by a US woman was by Dragila, who has dominated the women's pole vault since its inception. Caribbean women also had some big successes, including victory by the Bahamas in the 400-metre relay and four silver medals by Jamaicans. Merlene Ottey, who at the age of 40 was the anchor runner for the Jamaican 400-metre relay team that took silver behind the Bahamas, said changing attitudes are giving women in most parts of the world unprecedented opportunities.
On Monday, organising committee president Michael Knight said more than 1.5 million joined the closing night ceremonies in the central business district, most of them to watch the spectacular fireworks flowing from the Harbour Bridge.
Knight also said that in the Olympic period from 15 September to 1 October, more than 6.7 million tickets were sold to Games events. Sydney's free Olympic live sites were also popular, with 1.25 million visiting to watch the Games on giant screens and take in live acts.
The Sydney Olympics set a number of records. Ticket sales set a record for any Olympics, with more than 87 per cent available sold at all venues. The IOC confirmed that that broke the previous record of 82 per cent in Atlanta. Sydney sold $430 million worth of tickets. And the Olympics were broadcast in more countries and territories than any other Games -- 220 countries compared to 214 for Atlanta and 193 for Barcelona in 1992.
(Compiled from wire services)
