Sydney 2000

CLOSING CEREMONY

Brash, exuberant, fun andcompletely Australian! Theclosing ceremony of the

by Morley Myers*

Games of the XXVII Olympiad inSydney on 1 October reflected theworldwide vision of life Down Under.The end of 16 days of competitionbetween over 11,000 of the world’sbest athletes was also tinged with thesadness of more than 110,000 peo-ple in the Olympic Stadium as theyseemed to groan in unison when theflame died.The words of IOC President, JuanAntonio Samaranch, that Sydney hadgiven the world the “Best OlympicGames, ever” had been greeted byresounding cheers. Commentatorsrelaying the ceremony to a televisionaudience of billions in a record 220

countries and on giant screensacross Australia,agreed wholeheartedly with hiswords. This was the President’s lastOlympic Games before he retires nextyear and he could not have wishedfor a finer ceremonial occasion.The international face of Australia wasportrayed in the music, dance and

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personalities who filled the stadiumwith excitement on this last Sundaynight of the Games.Golfing great Greg Norman, nick-named the ‘Great White Shark’,stood aboard a replica of his epony-mous self, driving off the strangesttee he had ever encountered. He wasfollowed by a flood of other Australianicons on the spectacular floats, whichentered the arena. Internationalmodel Elle ‘The Body’ McPherson,film star Paul ‘Crocodile Dundee’Hogan and former TV soap operaactress turned singer Kylie Minoguewere each welcomed with yetanother roar of approval from thecrowd.In the centre of the arena were themost important people of the Games

Sydney 2000

Fireworks over the city of Sydney.

- the athletes. Representatives of 199National Olympic Committees - thosewith medals and those who mademajor contributions to the agony andthe ecstasy of the Games- wereready to party and joined in thecelebrations with enthusiasm. Theircameras were turned from rivals, whohad become friends, to each otherand then to the next spectacularentry in the parade.Stilt walkers in glittering costumeswere competing with the best ofSydney’s famous drag artists whoescorted the bus, star of the interna-tionally acclaimed movie ‘Priscilla,Queen of the Desert’.All this followed the moving formalityof the closing proceedings that beganwith the entry into the Stadium of the

flagbearers from each competingcountry.President Samaranch paid tribute tothe Games 47,000 volunteers, toSOCOG for an impressive lesson inorganizational ability and to the peo-ple of Australia. He made particularmention of the contribution by thenative Aboriginal population and thatof the Islanders from Torres Straits.The Olympic Order in gold was pre-sented to SOCOG president MichaelKnight and Australian OlympicCommittee president, John Coates.In an innovative move, the OlympicCup was presented for the first timeto the people of Sydney for theirenthusiastic and unpartisan supportof athletes from all countries.The formal handover by the Mayor of

Sydney Frank Sartor, of the Olympicflag to Athens, organizers of the nextGames of the Olympiad in 2004, wascompleted with its acceptance by theM a y o r o f A t h e n s , D i m i t r i sAvramopolos. High priestesses fromthe historical site of Olympia inGreece brought a hush to the packedStadium as they elegantly performedancient rituals to welcome the Gamesback to its roots.The appearance of a F1-11 fighter planeout of the night heralded the dousing ofthe Olympic flame but as a sigh andgroan was heard from the crowd, theAustralian organizers made it clear thismay be the end of the ceremony but itwas time for the party to begin.Within seconds the music began,dancers and floats rolled into the

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arena in a cacophony of colour andsound. John Paul Young sang ‘Loveis in the Air’ as over 1,000 dancersand a dozen giant kewpie dollsmoved around him. Aboriginal rockerYotha Yindi and his supporting bandwere given a particularly loud wel-come from the crowd.There were inflatable Mombasses -modernist images of Australia - with akangaroo holding a harbour bridge inone hand and a fighter plane in theother, A massive barbecue heraldedJimmy Barnes who sang from the topof a giant pineapple ring.Pop group Midnight Oil were laterjoined by Men at Work and SavageGarden. Music from a young countryfor a young generation.

The actor Paul ‘Crocodile Dundee’ Hogan.

The audience, who had paid forseats, chose not to sit in them butwere on their feet dancing along withthe performers, Among the athletes,informal ‘conga’ lines developed andit became impossible to distinguishthose from one country or another asthey spread out and danced.

Another Australian icon, folk singerSlim Dusty, proved his songs and styletranscended generations. He wasjoined by over 100,000 voices - andno doubt more at home in front of tele-vision sets all over the world - in the

song which, for most foreigners, rep-resents Australia - Waltzing Matilda.As the music died, so the final showof the night began. Sydney, alreadyrenowned for its Millennium eve dis-play, made sure the final ‘showdown’was just as good with a spectacularA$3 million firework display.Boats along the Parramatta River setoff the display. Hundreds of thou-sands of Sydney residents and visi-tors poured on to the streets as thesky blazed with gold and silver.Fireworks went off from the tops ofbuildings, around and behind thespectacular Harbour Bridge and justas each burst seemed to herald theend, yet another showered into thenight from points around the Bay.The finale came with the ‘explosion’of the five Olympic rings which hadbecome part of the view of theHarbour Bridge in the run-up to whatwere, as the IOC President said: “TheBest Olympic Games ever”.

*Freelance journalist.

The Mayor of Sydney Frank Sartor...

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... and the Mayor of Athens DimitrisAvramopoulos, carrying the Olympic flag.

Sydney 2000