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Abstract
The almost universal reaction across Australia to the 1993 announcement that Sydney would host the 2000 Olympic Games was one of elation. Since the bid launch in 1990, the city of Sydney and the nation had been urged to ‘Share the Spirit’ and maintain enthusiasm for the possibility of hosting the Millennium Olympics. The bid campaign appeared to be a carefully orchestrated blend of government rhetoric and public relations spin with an emphasis on the important place of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. This article begins by examining events surrounding Sydney's successful bid when in September 1993 it was announced that Sydney had won the right to host the Games of the XXVII Olympiad. The article concludes with assessments made of the games at the Sydney closing ceremony when the city and the organising committee were paid the ultimate compliment when told they had presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever. An examination of how far Australia has progressed in the past 11 years with respect to Indigenous issues is also taken into account.
Notes
1. Lenskyj, The Best Olympics Ever?, 208.
2. Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Olympic Games, xxvi.
3. Gordon, Australia and the Olympic Games, 224–5.
4. Jobling, ‘Olympic Proposals’, 37–56.
5. Larson and Park, Global Television and the Politics of the Seoul Olympics.
6. Loland, ‘Vulnerability Thesis and its Consequences’.
7. Girginov and Parry, The Olympic Games Explained, 238.
8. Tomlinson, ‘The Disneyfication of the Olympics?’.
9. Girginov and Parry, Olympic Games Explained.
10. Ross Warneke, ‘Games Win Gold’, in ‘Green Guide’, Age, 28 Sept. 2000, 6.
11. Tomlinson, ‘The Disneyfication of the Olympics?’.
12. Bingham-Hall, Celebrating Sydney 2000.
13. Smith, Living is Giving.
14. Brown, Sydney 2000, 11.
15. Hutchinson, True Blue, 143.
16. Gordon, The Time of Our Lives, 186–7.
17. Tatz quoted in Shawn Donnan, ‘Aboriginal Star Ries Above Aussie History’ Christian Science Monitor, 19 September 2000, htt://www.csmonitor.oly2000/stories/0919 Donnan.html
18. Shawn Donnan, ‘Aboriginal Star Rises Above Aussie History’, Christian Science Monitor, 19 September 2000.
19. T. Elliot, ‘Back in Business: The Reinvention of Cathy Freeman’, in ‘Sunday Life’, Sunday Age, 5 June 2005, 17.
20. Vollrath, ‘Eternity Games?’, 91.
21. Eichberg, ‘Global, the Popular and the Inter-Popular’, 80.
22. Cited in Veal and Lynch, Australian Leisure, 424.
23. Cashman, ‘The Greatest Peacetime Event’, 16.
24. Webb, The Collaborative Games.
25. Antonio Samaranch, in Sydney 2000: The Decision, Seven Network, 24 Sept. 1993.
26. McGeoch and Korporaal, The Bid.
27. Girginov and Parry, The Olympic Games Explained.
28. McGeoch and Korporaal, The Bid, 307–8.
29. McGeoch, ‘Sydney's Olympic Bid’, 3.
30. De Lange, The Games Cities Play, 151.
31. Hutchinson, True Blue, 72.
32. Cashman, ‘Introduction’, 9.
33. Brian Naylor, in National Nine News, Nine Network (Melbourne), 24 September 1993.
34. Peter Couchman, in The 7.30 Report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 24 September 1993.
35. Birch, Master of the Ceremonies, 197.
36. David Mason, in Sydney 2000: The Decision, Seven Network, 24 September 1993.
37. Ibid.
38. Tanya Blencowe, in A Current Affair, Nine Network, 24 September 1993.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. A. Dennis, ‘Tanya Back to Keep the Flame Alive’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 August 2000.
42. Ibid.
43. Paul Keating, in Sydney 2000: The Decision, Seven Network, 24 September 1993.
44. Paul Keating, in A Current Affair, Nine Network, 24 September 1993.
45. Spearritt, ‘Celebration of a Nation’, 20.
46. Willis, Illusions of Identity, 177.
47. O'Brien, The Bicentennial Affair, 4.
48. Day, Claiming a Continent, 311.
49. Spearritt, ‘Opening the Sydney Harbour Bridge’, 56.
50. Lee et al., The Race for the 2012 Olympics, 41.
51. McGeoch and Korporaal, The Bid, 144.
52. Ibid., 146.
53. Watson, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart, 289.
54. Ibid., 290–1.
55. ‘Unforgettable Speeches’, Radio National, 12 April 2007, available at http://abc.net.au/rn/features/speeches.
56. McGeoch and Korporaal, The Bid, 68.
57. Yew, The Olympic Image, 390.
58. Cahill, Running Towards Sydney 2000.
59. De Lange, The Games Cities Play, 150.
60. Birch, ‘The Sydney 2000 Ceremonies’, 299.
61. Birch, Master of the Ceremonies.
62. Birch, ‘Sydney 2000 Ceremonies’, 292.
63. Birch, Master of the Ceremonies.
64. Ibid.
65. Ibid., 262.
66. D. Cameron, ‘A Message or Two Before Thank-You, and Goodnight’, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Oct. 2000.
67. Gordon, The Time of Our Lives, 254.
68. Garry Wilkinson, in Sydney 2000 Closing Ceremony, Seven Network, 1 October 2000.
69. Antonio Samaranch, in Sydney 2000 Closing Ceremony, Seven Network, 1 October 2000.
70. Ibid.
71. Ibid.
72. Garry Wilkinson, in Sydney 2000 Closing Ceremony.
73. Spearritt, ‘Opening the Sydney Harbour Bridge’.
74. Birch, ‘The Sydney 2000 Ceremonies’, 294.
75. Ann Gerhart, ‘At the Finish Line, a First for Australia’. Washington Post, 2 October 2000, 1.
76. Ibid.
77. ‘Sir Gustav Nossal Supports Reconciliation Theme in Ceremony’, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2 Oct. 2000, available at http://www.abc.net.au/pm/s194725.html
78. Cashman, The Bitter-Sweet Awakening.