Pieter van den Hoogenband (left) and Ian Thorpe in Sydney

KEY FACTS

Dates: September 15 - October 1

Other candidate cities: Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul, Manchester (Gbr)

Mascots: Ollie the kookaburra, Syd the Platipus and Millie the Echidna, three Australian animals that were meant to represent the air, water and earth respectively

Participants: 10,651 (4,069 women)

Participating nations: 199

Disciplines: 28

Events: 300

Medals given out: 928

IOC president: Juan Antonio Samaranch (Spain)

Games declared open by: Sir William Dean, the Governor General of Australia

Last relay bearer of the Olympic flame: Cathy Freeman (Australian athlete)

Flame lit by: Cathy Freeman

Olympic oath read by: Rechelle Hawkes (Australian hockey player)

Television rights: $1.33 billion

Accredited journalists: 16,033

ANECDOTE

Perec flees

Just a few days before the women’s 400m, which would pitch double Olympic champion Marie-José Pérec against Aussie favourite Cathy Freeman, the Frenchwoman quit Sydney and the Games claiming to have been hounded by fans and press alike. Freeman went on to win gold in the event while Perec has only recently emerged from self-imposed isolation.

EXPLOIT

American sprint queen Marion Jones made it into the Sydney Olympics record books with an astounding haul of five medals, three of which were gold, but some would say Jones’s performance in Australia fell short of what might have been expected of her.

SUMMARY

Marion Jones set herself the target of winning five titles at Sydney 2000 and fell only marginally short of that goal by plundering three gold and two bronze medals. She was magnificent in both the 100m and 200m and also lifted gold in the 4x400m relay. But in the long jump and the 4x100m she had to settle for third, which was hardly a disappointment.

Another great fell short of the mark he’d set himself, Australian swim sensation Ian Thorpe with his size 17 flipper-feet. “Thorpedo” as he became known, was unexpectedly blasted out of the water by Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband, who won the 100m and 200m freestyle golds.

Thorpe’s only individual gold came in his favoured 400m freestyle event but he also left with two team golds.

There were many other great Olympians in action, too. American speed king Maurice Greene fullfiled his promise by winning the 100m.

Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie was once more crowned 10000m king, and the Czech Republic’s Jan Zelezny won his third javelin gold.