Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games
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The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different Organizing Committees. In this edition, a record 3,801 athletes from 120
National Paralympic Committee A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...
s participated in 551 events in 18 sports and until the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,was the second largest sporting event ever held in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Sydney was the eighth city to host the Olympics and the Paralympics on same venues at the same year, and the first since Barcelona 1992 that the were organized in conjunction with the Olympics. They were also the first Paralympic Games outside the Northern Hemisphere and also in Oceania.


Background to the Bid Process

On 9–13 September 1993, during the 10th International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Executive Board Session the entity carried out an assessment and announced that four (
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and Sydney) of the five finalist cities for the
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
satisifed the conditions to host the Paralympics. Three were treating the Paralympics as an integral part of their projects, while Sydney was the only bid that presented a separate project. According to the report presented a month before the final decision, Beijing, Berlin and Manchester were rejected due to technical reasons: Sydney had the only viable project, and the 94
National Paralympic Committees A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...
at the 10th IPC Executive Board Session held in Berlin, Germany, awarded them the hosting rights by acclaimation. Sydney was announced as host for the XI Summer Paralympics on 11 September 1993, 12 days before the city was also chosen by the IOC to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. But the bid team would have to wait more than a month to sign the host city contract as the Bid Committee, led by the Australian Paralympic Federation (APF), had to wait for the end of the Olympic process, which was scheduled to end 12 days later. Another specific question was related to the uncertainty about the ways of financing the event, as who would give these legal and financial guarantees: these were eventually taken over by the federal government of Australia and the State of New South Wales. This was the last time to date that the Paralympics host city was chosen this way: in 1994, the IOC and the IPC signed a strategic partnership agreement and that from the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
onwards, there would be topics related to the Paralympic Games in the questionnaires sent to interested cities. This was the last time that the Paralympics host city was chosen in a way that was not linked to the Olympic Games, but not the last time that the two were organized by a different Organizing Committees, though administrative and financial decisions in all areas were decided jointly. Sydney was the last time at the Summer Games that the Olympics and Paralympic Organizing Committees were different structures, as six years later, Turin hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympics with separate bodies.


The Bid Process


Context before the Games

There are several similarities between the 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics. The first is that the Organizing Committees of the respective Olympics held in the same cities did not want to commit to two events of the same size held in a short span of time under their custody. Even though Australia and the United States had tradition in the event, there was little recognition of it, though the resilience of the leaders of civil movements guaranteed the realization of the Paralympic Games in their respective cities.


History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia

Despite having a historical tradition in the Paralympics and having participated (and won gold medals) in the previous eight summer editions, Australia had traditionally looked down on Paralympic sport, to the point that during the candidacy process for the 2000 Summer Games, and despite being chosen as the Australian bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney had showed little or no interest in hosting the Paralympics and had not submitted any proposal about hosting the event. This was one of the consequences of the tumultuous process surrounding the organization of the 1996 Summer Paralympics and the fact that Paralympic sport did not have a great penetration in the local media and society. Not even expressive results, such as fifth place in the medal table at the 1992 Summer Paralympics held in Barcelona, drew attention in the same way that Paralympic sport was treated in other countries: some sectors of society treated the Paralympics as an event of "second class". Even with the approximation of the IOC made in the second half of the 1980's by
Juan Antonio Samaranch Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch (Catalan: ''Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló'', ; 17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh P ...
, they remained cold and cordial; however, the International Olympic Committee helped to reform the IPC with an administrative structure mirroring the one that was used by the IOC.


The process to host the Paralympic Games

But this help did not change the way in which the host cities of the Paralympic Games and their events were chosen at that time. For the 1960 and 1964 Games, Rome and Tokyo had accepted the invitation made by the International Stoke Mandeville Games Committee and hosted the Paralympics some weeks after the Olympic Games, but in different conditions. However, in 1968, Mexico City accepted the invitation, but due to financial and infrastructure problems, they later withdrew as host: the hosting rights went to Tel Aviv, Israel, as part of Israel's celebrations for their 20th anniversary of independence. The
1972 Summer Paralympics The 1972 Summer Paralympics (german: Paralympische Sommerspiele 1972), the fourth edition of the Paralympic Games, were held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from 2 to 11 August 1972. The games ended 15 days before the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Mu ...
and the
1976 Summer Paralympics The 1976 Summer Paralympics (french: Jeux paralympiques d'été de 1976), branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 4 t ...
were held in the same countries (
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
), but in different cities (
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
and
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
). The Soviet Union rejected the hosting rights for the
1980 Summer Paralympics The 1980 Summer Paralympics ( nl, Paralympische Zomerspelen 1980), branded as the Olympics for the Disabled, were the sixth Summer Paralympic Games. They were held in Arnhem, Netherlands, from 21 to 30 June 1980. Background The Soviet Union, ho ...
out of hand, also issuing the infamous statement that "There are no invalids in the U.S.S.R.!" Following this, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
(
Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
) immediately offered to host, which was accepted. After these problems, an attempt was made to approach
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
so that the original concept of "one city, two events" could be resumed. But even with potential sympathy on the part of LAOCOG, formal relations did not exist between the Stoke Mandeville Committee and the IOC, nor even between the various American Federations of Sports for the Disabled. In the midst of conversations between Los Angeles and the Stoke Mandeville Committee, it became public that the chosen funding model intentionally overlooked the holding of the Paralympics, and upon learning of this, those responsible for wheelchair sports in the United States decided to request the holding of their event separately. After this decision, the concept of the same hosting country (U.S.) was near to happen again, under an opt-out system in which wheelchair events would be at the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univers ...
, and the another types of disabilities were scheduled for
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
: at the last minute the Illinois University withdrew, and the games returned to Stoke Mandeville. This situation led the IOC to start talks with the 1988 hosts,
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
, and the cities interested in hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics. Seoul accepted the Games in a late stage but with a different Organizing Committee, who worked with alongside their Olympic counterparts. However, the SLOOC only accepted help in trivial matters such as logistical services and the training of volunteers, but the South Koreans held the Paralympics by removing some different elements (i.e. different venues and a specific Paralympic Village), as the Olympics had poor accessibility conditions, while all the apartments were sold on the guarantee that they would be delivered to their buyers the week after the Games ended. Seoul would ultimately finance the Paralympics with the profits from the Olympic Games, sponsorship, and ticket sales for both events.
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
accepted the host of the
1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , eve ...
jointly and with the same Organizing Committee, and in order to give improve the event's quality and secure its future, the COOB' 92 decided to standardize the entire classification system for athletes, which would give them the chance to have the same experiences and opportunities during the Paralympics. Contrary to what had happened previously, the Spanish city managed to finance the Paralympics with the extension of existing sponsorship quotas and signed new contracts with new sponsors specifically for the Paralympics. The city still managed to receive some additional public funds, and had the support of the ONCE Foundation who give more money. The Paralympic division of the COOB'92 turned a joint-venture when Spain's Blind National Organization (ONCE) also helped to organize and also added funds of its own, buying a minority stake and also acting as a manager of personnel and resources to be applied. After the Games in Catalonia, ONCE and COOB' 92 also helped to organize the Paralympic Games for the Mentally Disabled, which were held in Madrid following the closing ceremonies in Barcelona. When IPC opened the bid process for the 2000 Summer Paralympics, in 1991, Atlanta was in a critical situation compared to Barcelona. When the city was the same stage in their organization, any financial guarantees were considered non-existent. Due to having two separate Organizing Committees, functioning simultaneously and without any communication, and the slow execution of the project, the IPC and the Paralympic Movement became frustrated with the situation, and this arrangement had major repercussions on the projects of cities that were potentially interested in hosting the 2000 Summer Olympics, as Nagano had already ensured the organization of the
1998 Winter Paralympics The , the seventh Paralympic Winter Games, were held alongside the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside Europe. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remai ...
with a different organizing committee.


The nightmare in Atlanta

*''See also'':
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...
,
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
,
1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where Internatio ...
After the financial success of the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...
, "Olympic Fever" swept the United States and their bids became common in the following years. Anchorage,
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
applied to host the 1992 and
1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...
without success, and
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
also applied for the
1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...
, before the Utah capital "bought" the bidding process and won the rights to host the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
in 1995: three years later, the ensuing bribery scandal became public, leading to the biggest crisis in the history of the Olympic movement until the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
were postponed. Considered short-term bids, both Atlanta and Salt Lake City had used as a guide the financing model of the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...
, when no public funds were invested in the organization of the Games. Unlike Sydney, all the competition venues were ready and were mostly from private institutions. During the bid, all sponsors and interested parties financed all the necessary works. By choosing this model, however, the Atlanta Olympic Bid Committee, caused the Paralympic Games to be "forgotten", as seen from the loss of funding and low market potential, closing the door to any kind of damage to the image of the AOCOG. However, when this situation was discovered, this lead to a severe public outcry. As Salt Lake City was already in the bidding process for the 2002 Winter Olympics,the International Olympic Committee changed the process and signed a strategic partnership with the International Paralympic Committee in 1994, making the compromise to host the Paralympics under the same umbrella and Organizing Committee.


Two committees, too much confusion

Initially, the fact was raised that AOCOG had purposely forgotten about the Paralympics, and the reasons became clear: the event lacked the potential economic returns, visibility and appeal of the Olympics. After this lead to a civil movement led by the Sheppard Centre, it became possible that the 1996 Summer Paralympics would be held in Great Britain, with a unknown city having already signed a pre-contract as a reserve if Atlanta chose not to, or was unable to, host the Paralympic Games. The Shepard Centre's effort worked despite pressure from the USOC and its sponsors, who thought the Paralympics were taking advantage of the Olympics, and also forced a boycott from them: to that end, major local companies had threatened to withdraw funding to the event. Despite all this, the Atlanta experience turned out to be disasterous for everyone involved, with all the money raised being used to outsource the essential services at the venues to the AOCOG.


The Olympic bidding process

While all this confusion was going on, the process of choosing the host city for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games was already open, and eight National Olympic Committees showed their initial intentions to participate at the process: Australia,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, China,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
), with six of them also showing interest in hosting the Paralympics, having "open arms and hearts" to the Paralympics in their bidding documents. Throughout the process, and for several reasons, Brazil, Italy and Uzbekistan withdrew, with the other five bids being automatic finalists. When publishing this list, the IPC evaluated these candidates in parallel and announced that Turkey did not satisfy the conditions to host the Paralympic Games. However, the remaining four still faced different technical and feasibility requirements.


Sydney's reluctance to host the Paralympics

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Bidding Committee (SOBC) was initially not concerned with the Paralympic Games, and with several plausible arguments from the Australians: * Firstly, the risk of costs related to an eventual victory at the respective process to host the Olympic Games and two weeks later, the Paralympic Games. * Secondly, the city and the country did not have the practical conditions to host two events of the same size in such a short time. * Thirdly, concerns that the same situation was happening in Atlanta, when the city hosted the two events, but with two completely different organizing committees that did not communicate with each other and turned both into disasters for all parties involved. The low cooperation between the 1996 Summer Olympics Organizing Committee and its Paralympic counterpart also spilled over into the logistical and financial aspects. In Atlanta, several competition venues were more than 50 km from the Olympic Village and hotels and were outside the Olympic Ring, within Universities that did not host any events at the Olympic Games. Several forecasts by experts at the time said that this organizational model would not work, which was proven during the Games, particularly in the areas of logistics, ticket sales and marketing. Confusion also reached in terms od financial support, even in the sale of corporate sponsorship quotas, while the Games suffered a boycott and numerous lawsuits filed by both the USOC and by the Olympic sponsors who alleged misuse of trademarks. This alienation of sponsors forced the Organizing Committee of the Olympics to buy a small part of its counterpart for US$5 million, and to oblige the Paralympic Committee not to contract sponsorship quotas from competitors - who were the Olympic sponsors - which was judicially proven the differences between the events. Things significantly improved after the International Olympic Committee intervened and also bought a sponsorship share, as the remaining quotas of corporate sponsorship were bought by multinationals which had their world headquarters in the city (i.e.
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
,
Delta Airlines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along wi ...
and the
Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...
). After the diabolical situation that the Atlanta Paralympic Committee was in became public, the IOC changed the rules to prevent a repeat: starting with the bid process for the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
host city, it was required that each city interested in participating in the hosting process for the Olympic Games commit to publicizing its plans for the Paralympic Games, as the 1992 Summer Paralympics had been a sucess without precedence. After extensive marketing research, those responsible for Sydney's bid also considered the fact that the reach of the Paralympic Games were small and limited, given the local public were not likely to receive the event positively. As there was no obligation at the time to also host the Paralympic Games, Sydney would only consider applying for the simultaneous organization of the two events if it won the Olympic bid. This possibility did not interest the newly created Australian Paralympic Federation (APF), led by former athlete Ron Finneran, who was delighted with what had happened in recent editions of the Paralympic Games, where the same cities were hosting the Olympic Games. At the same time, the Atlanta Paralympics situation could help the rising importance and knowledge of the Paralympíc Movement around the world. The Bid Committee did not trust the APF to the same level as the organizational capabilities of the IPC, because of the short time it had been in operation, the lack of administrative and financial experience, the lack of experience and structure, and because of what was going on in Atlanta. The financial difficulties encountered by Atlanta had repercussions since the beginning of Sydney's plans: the APC was small, but had money to survive from its members and the Australian Government, though this would not be able to raise sufficient resources to promote the bid during 1992 and 1993. Some time after this situation was resolved, new questions regarding the reliability of the APF were raised by Australian public opinion. There were so many doubts and uncertainties that TV networks in the country had no potential interest in broadcasting promotional videos or involvement in marketing functions. At the same time, the Bid Committee was asked about sources of funding for the event, since the Paralympics did not have the market appeal of the Olympic Games and also, how the APF would be able to get other sources of private funding.


The beginning of the dream

With the successful integration in Barcelona, where the two events were marketed as a "60-day sporting celebration", the first contacts between the APF and the Sydney 2000 Bid Committee (SOBC) were made in 1991 and again in the first half of 1992. However, like all previous Olympics host cities, the SOBC had no plans to bid for the Paralympics unless Sydney won the Olympic counterpart. The lack of knowledge of local legislation also hindered the planning of the APF. Under Australian law, the SOBC was constituted as a "specific purpose entity", which barred any change in its composition. The SOBC operated as a joint venture company with a 100% of its composition divided into three equal parts: 33.3% owned by the
Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...
, 33.3% owned by the Government of New South Wales and 33.3% owned by the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. Under the legislation, regardless of winning or losing the candidacy, at the end of the process it would have to be dissolved. Thus, these rules blocked any change in the composition, structure and functioning of the SOBC. As a result of this, the bid committee created by the APF had to do all the work alone. After the announcement that of the five finalists, four satisfied the conditions to host the Paralympic Games (
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and Sydney) - technical infeasibility eliminated
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
- the IPC breathed a sigh of relief at that moment as three of these cities were proposing to "jointly organize the Olympic and Paralympic Games to save human and financial resources": the only bidding city that didn't propose this was Sydney. After the decision was made by the IOC, Berlin was seen as favorites, as it was "considered the perfect proposal to celebrate the entry of the third millennium" as they wanted to celebrate the German reunification by hosting the Games. But the support of its bid was marred after anti-Olympic protesters marched through the city just four days before the final vote in Monaco, claiming that the Games would be using funds to further domestic reconstruction efforts. The Manchester's bid book was believed to be strong, but was harmed by recurring delays in the regeneration process and the ongoing works at the historic center of the city, by criticism within Britain when its promotional videos and material featured videos and photos of the main tourist attractions of the capital
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, such as Buckingham Palace and
Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...
, instead of Manchester's tourist atractions. The first reactions in the UK were one of disbelief and embarrassment when the final presentation was taken in Monaco: many opinions in the editorials in national and local newspapers the following day concluded "Manchester is in a severe identity crisis", and even with Great Britain being the "spiritual home of Paralympic sport", Manchester's candidacy was being rejected by political force, along with several failures - the most glaring being their proposal to hold the Paralympic Games over 15 days, whereas the maximum allowed at the time was 12. A review of the failed project was submitted two years later to the
Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is governing body of the ...
(CGF), and the city was eventually named as the host of the
2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...
. Along Berlin, the city was seen as a favorite due to the bid book stating "The Paralympic Games will be jointly financed with the Olympic Games and athletes will have the same opportunities and conditions offered to their Olympic counterparts". Beijing had very weak arguments, similar to those of Milan (who withdrew), though Beijing stated that "the city would accept the mission of organizing and hosting the Paralympic Games, and that the financing would be the same". However, that the entire project would be developed jointly between BOBICO and the IPC, respecting all international rules and legislation. Despite this, the Chinese bid was still frowned upon because of issues relating to the protests in
Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen ...
in 1989, along with weak legislation related to the disabled and the accessibility of public places. With all these problems seeing the other candidates eliminated, only the APF candidacy remained, which also faced serious problems: despite being the only viable candidate, there were still no financial and structural guarantees. During the first phase of feasibility studies, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Bid Committee had rejected the holding of the Paralympics, haunted by the perfect storm that was brewing in Atlanta, who were organizing its event with two non-communicating organizing committees that operated completely independently. The result of an "oversight" on the part of the Atlanta 1996 Bidding Committee, the Paralympic Games were only saved due due to a collective action on the part of civil society and the administrators of the Shepard Center, who assumed the candidacy and eventually the management of the Games: at that time, they also had financial uncertainties which were only resolved at the last minute, when large companies and multinationals based in the city bought the sponsorship quotas, and when the situation became public after several reports, claimed that the Paralympics were undergoing "a corporate boycott" headed by the
United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
(USOC). Sydney did not originally submit any documents regarding the holding of the Paralympic Games, which angered the Paralympics Australia, as the funding for the Olympics was secured: it seemed there was no realistic prospect of any funding for the Paralympics. A few days later, when the application documents were released and the applications were accepted, it was reported that all cities except Sydney had given guarantees to host the Paralympics. Berlin and Manchester were still committed to financing and organizing the Paralympic Games with the same Organizing Committee and joint investiment. This triggered a red light for the SOBC: the bid planning needed to be redone, and a chapter on the Paralympic Games was included at the last minute. However, it was clear that the two events would be organized by two separate Organizing Committees. Immediately, the bid consultants advised the SOBC to reconsider its decision, and reluctantly they accepted this: it was claimed that the "rejection of the Paralympic Games could be considered a weakness for Sydney" and that "important votes for the end could be lost". Against its will, the SOBC approached the APF and tried to change its statute and the entire project to include the plans for the Paralympic Games, but the legislation in force in Australia at that time barred this structural change. While the possibility of what was happening in Atlanta could repeat were real, the APF's resilience was what kept their hopes alive.


Third Phase: And the fight continued

While the period of presentations was approaching, SPBC was structured. With a simpler and more modest structure than the other candidates as consequences of the lack of financial, organizational and structural support. .As the final evaluations approached, the Sydney bidding committee for the 2000 Summer Paralympics was structured in a simpler and more modest way than the other bidders as a consequence of it being operating separately and also because there wasn't had the structural, financial and organizational support of the Olympic Committee. Despite being there competing, Sydney's candidacy had more work than her competitors because of this lack of support. Sydney had a lot more work than the other competitors.


The APF's resilience

The APF presented throughout the process a surprising level of articulation, willpower and organization for an institution that had only been in operation for two and half years. In its first months of operation, the APF formally assumed the functions of the Bid Committee for the 2000 Summer Paralympic Games (SBPG). After the Australian Confederation of Sports for the Disabled (ACSD) ceased operations on December 31, 1989, the APF had the same functions and attributions that today belong to the
Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...
(APC). In addition to these roles, they took on the duties and the matters of Sydney's bid for the 2000 Summer Paralympics. The APF also had the tasks of organizing its staff and interested parties, convincing skeptics about Australia's ability to host, organize and manage the Paralympic Games after the Olympics (hosted at a level of excellence never before seen), and show that a potential Paralympic edition on Australian soil could be a perfect opportunity to demonstrate that parathletes are part of Australian society, and that they have enormous potential to demonstrate their inclusion and diversity. The APC's arguments had previously been used successfully when they convinced former Prime Minister Bob Hawke to sponsor the foundation of the APF: nobody imagined that Australia would consolidate itself in the Paralympic movement in the same way as in the Olympic movement, or even that this would be done in just sx years. As a courtesy from the NSW Government, APC would gain an office at the New South Wales Sport House.


Third Phase: "We are on this"

The activities and the work of the Bid Committee gained greater intensity as 1992 drew to a close: the APC would have to present its project to external and interested parties. At the same time that the engagement and involvement of the population in the Olympic bid increased, the rejection of the Paralympics grew in the same way. For many, the work of the APF was considered "opportunistic" and "rude", while others understood that there was an "obligation for pity". With this negativity growing, the APF continued to do its job, while the difficulties continued to increase everyday. Taking advantage of this and the increasingly shorter deadline for sending the necessary documentation - this was to be delivered to the IPC by March 21, 1993. The late Adrienne Smith, who was then working as the executive secretary of the APC, sat down in a table with several consultants of the SOBC: in just eight weeks, Smith and the SOBC drew up the bid project that would be handed over to the IPC Executive Board in a meeting scheduled for Lillehammer,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
. In a surprise action, the APF managed to add the letters of intent signed by the Prime Minister, the Governor of NSW, and the Mayor of Sydney. At this meeting, the four candidate cities were aware of what their competitors were proposing to the IPC and, for the first time, face-to-face meetings between the members of these Candidacy Committees took place. Some of the Australian journalists who were accompanying the Sydney delegation reported that "the APF Committee made a functional and realistic presentation, but which in comparison was much simpler and more modest than the others". As a sign of courtesy, approach and recognition, the SOBC paid the expenses for the trip to Norway and integrated the delegation and its executive manager, though the SBPC was responsible for printing all its promotional material, the necessary documentation and the application book (which were scarce compared to that of other cities). Same sources that reported that the other three candidates "were very well represented" and all had "convincing and more strong arguments": a member of the Australian delegation even declared that "if we had a small team, all the work would be more difficult to do", scolding the local society by declaring that "there was an implicit lack of respect for the importance of the event, as it equated to the choice of the Olympic host city". During the Lillehammer presentation, it was announced that the first estimated budget for the Paralympic Games was expected to be more than AU$84 million and this would be financed by the sale of sponsorship quotas, tickets, licensed products, marketing actions, and contributions from the Governments of New South Wales and Australia. It was not reported at the time how much was intended to be gained from the sale of media rights.


1993 - almost everything collapses

1993 was the most important year for the ambitions of SOBC and SBPC: January could not have started better, as the APF was able to confirm that it had obtained the formal and official support of the governmental spheres involved. A few days before the trip to Norway, the Federal Minister of Sports of Australia,
Ros Kelly Roslyn Joan Kelly AO (née Raw; born 25 January 1948) is a former member of the Australian House of Representatives, having represented the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments ...
, confirmed that formal and official support from the SOBC was ratified and they would be partners for whatever the APC needed. Kelly also confirmed that letters of intent were being sent by these government levels. It seemed that with this public support, everything would be solved. But after several denials, the most worrying issues would resurface: even with all the accepted and well-structured arguments, the APF still had not obtained the financial guarantees and it was feared that any request for financial assistance would be seen as a provocation. Since at that time, the APF was not in a position to support itself financially - nor would its members be able to raise funds and finance all the costs of the bid and the Games itself - if Sydney was the winner. The concern was valid because the choice of the Paralympics host would be before the Olympic host, and any eventual failure it could spill over into the Olympic candidacy. Further to this, there were studies that reported that the Paralympic Games had "low marketing potential" and did not have "the same commercial attraction as the Olympic Games". In this letter there was relevant information that "in the first months, the SOBC had guided the APF to look for other forms of financing that were not public" and "we cannot finance you in any way". This thinking was gradually changing, and the SOBC became ready some time later to help the SPBC in whatever it needed. The SOBC had even guided the APF to look for other sources of income for its candidacy. This statement came at the same time that the APF admitted that it did not even have the capacity to pay the US$50,000 if Sydney did win the hosting rights. After becoming aware of this dire situation, Finneran sent a letter informing the minister that their recent studies determined that the costs to host the Paralympic Games would be AU$82.67 million, of which the SOBC would provide AU$15 million from the ticket sales. The sales of sponsorship, tickets, related events such as fundraising and licensed products were expected to generate another AU$14.49 million, leaving a deficit of AU$53.18 million. Finnegan raised an even more urgent situation, the difficulty of carrying out a separate marketing campaigns for the two events, as required by the SOBC and the IOC itself, and announced a joint campaign by the two bids, understanding that the function would be to maximize opportunities to acquire unified actions as same sponsors as well as private sector funding. However, the dice had already been rolled and the main challenge now was the candidacy itself, and the city's preparation for the IPC inspection visits that were scheduled for May and June of that year, as it had already been announced that the city's bid proposal had been accepted. As per the rules of the final process, the final report would be released and the members of APF would have to make a final presentation before the then 94
National Paralympic Committees A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...
members of the IPC in Berlin, Germany, on 12 September 1993. This selection was made eleven days before the 101st Session of the International Olympic Committee that was to be held in
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
, Monaco. However, the signing of the city contract would have to wait, as this depended on the decision of the Olympic host: on September 23, Sydney won the hosting rights in an upset, beating the favorite, Beijing, by just two votes. Thus, for the eighth time in history, the same city would host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the same year: the SOBC had chosen September 16-October 1 to hold the Olympic Games, while the APF chose October 14-26 to hold the Paralympic Games. After the win, Smith - now executive manager of the SPBC - commented that "We couldn't go public because if we did it would have ruined the Olympic bid. We had no acknowledgement of financial support from the government until the day of the bid in September 1993." Between these actions, Smith, Finneran, and members of SOBC also ensured in a letter to the IOC, IPC and Australian and New South Wales authorities that if Sydney won both bids, the Paralympic athletes would have the same treatment, conditions and support as their Olympic counterparts as happened in Barcelona, but in a better and innovative way. This was unprecedented, and would become a turning point for the Paralympic Games.


1993 Australian Federal Election

On the calendar, things would get worse: in the midst of the APF campaign, the country faced a federal election. With
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson wa ...
challenging Prime Minister
Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
and the Labor Party, all election polls had predicted that Hewson would defeat Keating - most of which had Hewson winning by a heavy margin or in a landslide. This changed with Hewson's infamous "Birthday Cake Interview" with reporter
Mike Willesee Michael Robert Willesee, (29 June 1942 – 1 March 2019) was an Australian television journalist, interviewer and presenter. Willesee was the son of politician senator Don Willesee; Mike first came to prominence in 1967 as a reporter for the ...
inside a bakery in Sydney: when asked on live television how he would enforce the policies proposed in the document he called the Fightback! policy, using a
birthday cake A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of a birthday celebration. Birthday cakes are often layer cakes with frosting served with small lit candles on top representing the celebrant's age. Variations include cupcakes, cake pops, pastries, an ...
as example, Hewson made a muddled and confusing response to Willesee's question if a birthday cake would cost more or less under his proposed tax reforms - this contributed to Keating's upset victory in the federal election ten days later. To the relief of the APC, Minister Kelly was not only easily re-elected, but remained in office, resuming on March 24 as part of the Second Keating ministry.


After the elections: first innovative proposal

A few days after taking office, on April 19, 1993, Finneran wrote a new letter to the Minister explaining that either the APF or the Australian disability sports community were unable to accept responsibility for the financial contributions or otherwise for organizing the Games, even if they are submitting a bid. In the same letter, he further proposed that al the organization and the marketing of the Olympic and Paralympic Games was done under a same banner and this would be the best solution to ensure a successful delivery of the 2000 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. At the first days of May 1993, a small Committee was organized by the APF and during the first meetings, a document described as a "white paper" was written. This document had the function of guiding all the actions that would be taken from there in the Australian bid. Another main objective was also to base its clear foundations with the government and consolidate the bid arguments in all the process. After the ending of the series of meetings, Finneran sent the White Paper to his board on 12 May 1993, drawing attention with the following written statement made at the beginning message "the white paper … clearly states to all directors involved, the position of the Australian Paralympic Federation and therefore the position of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Bidding Committee (SPBC) in relation to the conditions under which the Paralympic Games will be held if Sydney wins the bid."


The Financial Nightmare

At the beginning of the bid, it was expected that all the problems related to Atlanta 1996 would be repeated, since both the APF/SPBC were not in a position to guarantee the Games funding. Even initially seeking the support of the SOBC and being practically ignored and rejected by Sydney 2000 bid authorities. Due this hard situation, Finneran was motivated to approach federal authorities in Australia to secure full and unqualified support for his efforts. This relationship would change from 1992 ending, as the relationship between the SOBC and the APF was practically non-existent, leaving the APC "to fend for itself". In the same period, SPBC announced that the budget for the eventual realization of the Paralympics in Sydney would be AU$84 million. that would come from revenue from ticket sales, sponsorship quotas, licensed products, charities and marketing. There was no forecast about possible media rights. SPBC also expected to receive smaller contributions from the federal and state governments. Market research at the time indicated that the Paralympic Games had "little potential" compared to its Olympic counterpart and it was "uncertain and risky to invest in an event with no certain return". Which contributes to alienating any interested future sponsor. Along this had addition, the event had "low reach and interest for those who were not directly involved were added". As a consequence of these issues, it was understandable that both the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics Organizing Committee and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Bidding Committee would withdraw from organizing the Paralympic Games. In December 1992,five months after the
1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
, the IOC publicly released the first part of documents related to applicant cities for the 2000 Summer Olympics. And of the 7 applicants,6 were clarifying that the Paralympic Games were included in their proposals. Of these 6, all would organize and finance the Paralympic Games jointly "as an integral part of their events". The only one who hadn't committed was Sydney. Eventually, the SOBC consultants and staff turned on the red alert because this was found to be "one of the main weaknesses of the candidacy" and this and this "situation put some decisive votes at risk". And reluctantly and embarrassingly, the rapprochement between SOBC and SPBC began and even with the only viable project, financial guarantees were non-existent. And despite that, all 7 candidates became finalists. However, Brasília, Brazil and Milan, Italy dropped out during the final stage and incredibly, the two had guaranteed that they would bear and organize the Paralympics in a unified way. But with this approach, recognition came and the SOBC financed some small actions such as the costs of sending the Australian delegation to the semestral meeting of the IPC Executive Board in Lillehammer, Norway, where the official documentation of the candidacy would be delivered. With that, the SOBC sent its executive manager to Norway, representing the newly created courtesy between the committees. SPBC was responsible for printing the scarce promotional material. After this moment, it would not be easy for APC/SPBC to convince both potential sponsors and Australian authorities about financial guarantees. Even with the political guarantee of support from the three spheres of government and the visit of the then President of the IPC, the Canadian Robert Stedwart during the inspection visit they could be initially given. Time would pass and Finneran, uncertain of what was approaching, sent a series of correspondences to the then-Federal Sports Minister
Ros Kelly Roslyn Joan Kelly AO (née Raw; born 25 January 1948) is a former member of the Australian House of Representatives, having represented the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments ...
,as a consequence of the results of that year's election, she had remained in office. In the first, he asked for political support from her and the state and federal authorities for his proposal. This was confirmed days later with the sending of letters of intent signed by them to the IPC meeting in Norway. On the second correspondence, sent at the date of April 19 of the same year, he sent copies of the financial statements of the APF, proving that the entity did not even have the money to maintain itself and the necessary financial conditions to guarantee the security of US$50.000 that would be deposited in the account of the IPC in case the city was eventually the winner of the process and sign the host city contract he also added to it the first estimated amount for the Games budget which would be AU$84 million and that he hoped that in addition to ticket sales, sponsorship quotas, licensed products, marketing and charity actions, the state and federal governments would contribute in a complement to this value. However, with these efforts, only bad news arrived and the ill will on the part of the authorities on the financial issue was remarkable. He argued that this was an "egocentric" request from the APF. of all and if she lost the process due to lack of financial support, this would cost dearly for the Olympic candidacy. This observation also served the APF, which also had no more money to survive. As it was still little recognized at that time, the marketing potential of Paralympic sport was considered "low or very low range" which excluded potential sponsors and possible alternative forms of financing. It also weighed the results of the feasibility studies carried out by the SOBC, as a result, the Olympic Bid Committee recommended to SPBC "that they should seek money not only for the bid process but also for the event itself". and upon receiving this message, the SPBC announced that the estimated costs of the event were AU$84 million and would be financed by ticket sales, sponsorship quotas, partnerships, marketing and charity actions. There were eventual plans to receive contributions from the state and federal governments. Nonetheless,the reality was much worse, as the present value in the entity's account did not reach the equivalent value to reach the US$50.000 that would have to be deposited in the IPC bank account if Sydney were the eventual winner. In a new correspondence, Finneran sent to the Minister Kelly a revised budget in which costs were reduced to AU$82.67 million. In this new study, funding sources were revised and new sources were added as the US$15 million that would come from the SOBC coffers. Another AU$14.4 million would come from ticket sales, quotas and sponsorship partnerships and other actions, totaling AU$58.33 million that would be missing. However, in the next Finneran ended up realizing that that the SOBC's market forecast was correct and, when he saw this, he also suggested that the two bids have to be promoted jointly as one, argued for a joint campaign to maximise the human opportunities to acquire private funding. Despite the success and excitement after the presentation in Norway. There was a continuation of the search for recognition by government authorities and political leaders. The Atlanta Games were approaching and the Paralympics were still seen as "an uncertain and risky business". The long-awaited public success of the Paralympics, seen in Barcelona, had not yet manifested and the insistence and approaches on the part of the candidacy progressively alienated potential supporters and always created new obstacles as Australia's 1993 federal election approached. As the Labour Party stayed in power, Minister Kelly remained in office, Finneran sent another letter now explaining that under current conditions neither the APF nor the Australian community of people with disabilities were able to afford or finance the Paralympic Games. and that even if it was difficult to make a bid happen. He was suggesting that the 2000 Summer Olympics and Paralympics be organized and managed under the same umbrella as the best solution for delivering the Paralympics. The APF's problems were not resolved at that time, not even with the success and recognition obtained with the presentation in Norway. With each passing day, to the despair of the APF, the chances of success and political recognition were worsening and little by little relations with the SOBC were fraying, as well as with senior public servants and political leadership. According to the feasibility studies carried out at the beginning of the application phase, the Paralympics were considered "a high-risk and uncertain business" as the dreamed recognition and public success was taking a long time to happen. For a while, the perseverance actions, approach added to an insistent movement created a "certain antipathy" on the part of some. However the APF knew that its survival was at stake and facing all those obstacles could bring it a larger group of supporters and effectively more resources.


The start of budget battles

On May 18, 1993, an APF-organized and scheduled meeting took place with members of the Prime Minister's Cabinet of New South Wales. In it were the leaders of the Paralympic project and its main theme was whether the State of New South Wales "was prepared to provide financial and budgetary support for the Paralympic Games, if the APF proposal wins" and "if there was a need to expand that coverage if new needs arose". The response from the cabinet was positive. But this "would only happen if the two events were organized by a single committee". The original estimated budget amount was AU$84 million and, to the delight of the APF, the state government has committed to a possibility to donate a further AU$15 million. If there was a possibility that the federal government of Australia would add the same value. Thus, the budget forecasts would give AU$54 million and was a long way to find a find the remaining 30 million would be raised through the conquest of sponsors from the corporate system. One of those present at this meeting, the former IPC vice-president, the Australian Greg Hartung, recalls some results of this meeting in an article published in the Australian Sport Reflections: "We left that meeting exhausted, but we were sure that we created a clear case for the federal government give us the help we need". Following this meeting, Finneran appealed on 24 June 1993 to Minister Kelly and argued that the needs of the Paralympic bid were practically the same as those of the Olympic bid. "Just as the AOC cannot finance the Olympic Games, the APF cannot finance the Paralympic Games either." and will "assist in the delivery of their respective events". Hartung in his article, summarized the situation as follows: " The APF obtained sympathy, goodwill and institutional support from government spheres by sending letters of intent along with the bid book.But this not happened with the government funding, something that its 3 competitors had achieved. Not even when he visited Sydney in July 1993, then-IPC President Canadian Robert Steadward and met with then-Premier of New South Wales, John Fahey could guarantee.


The nightmare is over: the success finally comes

As the year 1993 drew to a close, the agonizing process and unbelievable debate in which the Summer Paralympics budget was involved came to an end. On 1 October 1993, the '' Daily Telegraph'' reported that AU$65 million had been allocated for the budget of the Sydney Paralympic Games. AU$45 million would come from the coffers of the state of New South Wales, after the state premier committed to recover more than 50% of the money from other budget sources. The federal government would likely allocate another AU$25 million. According to The Telegraph, Fahey's letter read: "In determining a sensible approach to overcoming the funding gap, I came to the conclusion that the fairest for the Paralympics, the approach would be for the State and Commonwealth to agree on a 50/50 split." According to Hartung, since the beginning of the process, the completion of this process is summarized as follows: "For the APF, it was a tortuous journey, to reach this "sensitive approach". But they went to the end. it was exactly the end of the story; but the end of the beginning. And, at the very least, a very determined and clear step for the Paralympic Movement."


The final cost

The games was estimated to cost
AU$ The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Isla ...
157 million, with the NSW Government and Commonwealth Government contributing AUS$25 million each. The Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) contributed $18 million, within the bid estimates. The Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC) signed the host city contract with the recently formed International Paralympic Committee in 1993, a few days after the city had been chosen to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. This contract outlined the SPOC's obligations in hosting the Paralympic Games. To cover the costs, another revenues was raised via sponsorships quotas shared with SOCOG and ticket sales. The 110,000 seat Stadium Australia was completed three months early in February 1999, this stadium was funded mainly by the private sector at an estimated cost of $690 million, the Government contributed $124 million to this project. Though there is no budgeted profit, if any profit is made though the games, repayment to the Federal and State Governments is the first priority. In October 1998, governing bodies of the Olympics and Paralympics initiated a joint call for volunteers. An estimated total of forty-one thousand Australians answered this call, non-including those sourced from specialist community groups.


Environment

In an innovative way, the Olympic and Paralympic project had as the major focus, the completion of the first stage of the Millennium Parklands. This is composed of 450 hectares of landscape, with up to 40 kilometers of pedestrian and cycle trails. This major first stage included focus on the surrounding Olympic and Paralympic facilities, providing a beautiful landscape for recreational activities, conservation and environmental education/preservation. During this time work on the Water Reclamation and Management Scheme (WRAMS) will continue to progress. The WRAMS will be in use during the games with the first stage (recycled water to be used for flushing and irrigation) to be implemented. This system will continue after the games, and will be fully developed after the games has been completed. The WRAMS system is only one of the many water saving management strategies to be used during the games period. Plans to use stormwater runoff from Newington to be used as irrigation and a requirement for Olympic venues to utilise water saving techniques and devices are also some of the other water saving plans. Stormwater from the Stadium Australia roof is to be collected and used to irrigate the central stadium. An environmental education program is also delivered throughout 1999–2000 to ensure that Homebush Bay and the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympics continues to be recognised for their commitment to the environment after their end.


Administration

Since the 1989,the Paralympic Games are governed and organized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The Games were organised by the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC) led by President Dr John Grant and chief executive officer
Lois Appleby Lois is a common English Given name, name from the New Testament. Paul the Apostle mentions Lois (Bible), Lois, the pious grandmother of Saint Timothy in the Second Epistle to Timothy (commending her for her faith in 2 Timothy 1:5). The name was f ...
. The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games Organizing Committee (SOCOOG) was established at the same time and in a parallel way as the Sydney 2000 Summer Paralympic Games Organizing Committee (SPOC) on 12 November 1993 by the Australian Government Office of Olympic Co-ordination. In January 1995, SPOC and SOCOOG became public companies controlled by the Government, receiving support by both State and Commonwealth Governments. The two companies had the same board of directors composed of members appointed by Premier, Minister for the Olympics, the Federal Treasurer and the Minister for Sports and Recreation conducted the joint administration. As their Olympic counterpart the SPOC was responsible for planning and staging the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games including the tickets and information services, the disability categorisation, converting Olympic venues to Paralympic venues, conducting public events, facilitating drug testing, arranging broadcasting, housing for athletes, arranging medal ceremonies, transporting athletes and conducting the Paralympic torch relay. Along the IPC, the SPOC also had the responsibilities to regulated the use of Paralympic Games brand and images. Subsequently, a Committee was created that involved all interested parties in the conduction of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Known as the Joint Working Group was established in June 1997, linking the Boards of both the SPOC and the SOCOG. On 29 November of the same the Sydney Games Administration Act 2000 was passed at the parliament. This specific legislative act forced the dissolution of the SOCOG and SPOC from 1 January 2001,and their assets and liabilities were transferred to the Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA). On January 23, 1997, the International Paralympic Committee appointed the Spaniard Xavier Gonzales as General Manager of Sports and Competition Venues. He had held the same roles during the Barcelona Olympic and Paralympic Games in 1992 and also at the Atlanta Summer Paralympics in 1996,supervising more than 3 thousand athletes in 21 competition venues and also in supplementary/auxiliary ones. Gonzales was also responsible for finalizing the program, the final calendar of the Games together shared responsibility with each of the managers from each sport and venue. Gonzales was the only non-Australian to occupy a position in the Organizing Committee.


Transport and Logistics Operations

Contrary to what happened in Atlanta, when the responsibilities of transport, logistics and movement were shared and the city during the Olympic and Paralympic Games turned into chaos, local authorities in Sydney understood that there was a real need for transport and logistics operations to be carried out in a unified way. So that this did not happen because of the distances that in the city were greater than in the American city, understood that all transport and logistics operations would have to be centralized and unified transport and road services during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, under the auspices of the Olympic Transport and Roads Authority (SORTA). In addition to the roads and logistics of the Games, this body was also responsible for the railways, since a good part of the movements of the Games were made by train, subway and surface subway.


Political context

The Sydney 2000 Summer Paralympic was only the sixth time that the Summer Paralympics were hosted at the same city as the Olympic Games and the fifth that they were Organized by a different organizing Committee. Contrary to what was expected, the 16 days of transition between the Games (October 2 to 18, 2000) was tense for the local authorities. At the early hours of the morning of monday October 2, was turned public that that the SOCOOG and the city hall jointly decided to remove the gigantic Olympic rings from the Harbour Bridge. This decision ended up overshadowing the launch of the Paralympic Games and the Aboriginal ritual in which the Paralympic torch would be lit at the foot of
Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...
Hill in Canberra. A few hours later, the chairman of SOCOOG, Michael Knight, publicly announced that he would no longer participate in public events related to the Paralympic Games. For the australian public opinion, this was seen this decision was frowned upon and was also seen as insensitive authoritarian and self-centered attitude towards the Paralympic Games. Subsequently, SOCOOG marked for a next day a public celebration dedicated to the volunteers who worked for the success of the Games. However,the local authorities knew that this celebration would coincide with the arrival of the Paralympic torch in the city and refused to re-mark this celebration. With a few months to go until the opening ceremony,SOCOOG was taken by surprise,when they found out behind the scenes that the pop diva Kylie Minogue and group
Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi ( Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and '' balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swam ...
were going to headline the Paralympic opening ceremonies.Some hours before this announcement becomes public, the Olympic organisers, quickly made an invitation to Kylie and Yothu Yindi to participate at the Opening Ceremonies. But, was already known in Australia that Kylie was not able to be at the country on that week, because she had a full schedule in Europe to promote the upcoming release from the Light Years album and wouldn't have time to get to Sydney before the ceremony. Kylie and the band performed at the Olympics Closing Ceremonies instead.


Controversies

The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games were marred by a scandal which saw a classification of athletes removed from the next two Summer Paralympics. Fernando Vicente Martin, former head of the Spanish Federation for Mentally Handicapped Sports, allowed athletes with no disabilities to compete at the Games in order to win the gold medal. The team at the centre of the row was the Spanish basketball team, who won the gold medal in the Basketball ID, beating Russia 87–63, despite fielding a team mainly composed of athletes with no intellectual disability. It was claimed that at least 10 of the 12 Spanish players had no disability, rather were recruited to improve the team's performance and guarantee future funding. Martin was later suspended by the IPC and expelled by the Spanish Paralympic Committee. The athletes were quickly exposed and the IPC reacted by removing all events from the following Games for athletes with intellectual disabilities. The decision was overturned 12-years later in London. Along with the controversy surrounding the Spanish basketball team, the games turned over 11 positive doping tests out of a total 630. Of these 11 positive tests, 10 were from male athletes and 1 from a female athlete. This leaves the games with the highest number of positive tests from the 1992 – 2008 Paralympics.


Mascot

The mascot for the 2000 Paralympics was "Lizzie" the
Frill-necked Lizard The frilled lizard (''Chlamydosaurus kingii''), also known as the frill-necked lizard or frilled dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. It is native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. This species is the only member o ...
.


Logo

The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games logo was representative of a dynamic human form leaping triumphantly forward and 'breaking through' towards the games. Not only was this depicted through the logo, but so too was the Paralympic Torch and the sails of the famous Sydney Opera House, through the use of three graphic shapes. The color tones used are unique, related to Australian nature. They are chosen to represent the blue of Sydney Harbour,the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
and the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
, the warm red of the Outback and a lush forest green which represent the unique forestry Australian characteristics. The logo also embodies the host city vitality, Australia's spirit, and the achievements of a Paralympic athlete.


Ceremonies

The opening ceremony commenced on Wednesday 18 October at 8.00 pm with over 6000 performers taking part. The show started by the Australian artist Jeffrey St. John sang the national anthem "
Advance Australia Fair "Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, sung in Australia as a patriotic song. It first replaced " God Save the Queen" as th ...
" and "The Challenge" at the Opening Ceremony. The 2-hours and half ceremonies ended Kylie Minogue with an "
Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) ...
" special version, her rendition of " Kool & the Gang's Celebration" and her current hit "
Spinning Around "Spinning Around" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her seventh studio album, ''Light Years'' (2000). Written by Ira Shickman, Osborne Bingham, Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul, the song was initially meant to be recorded by Abdul ...
". Australian actor
Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...
was selected as ceremony narrator for the evening. Other performers for the Opening Ceremony included the band
Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi ( Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and '' balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swam ...
, Nathan Cavaleri, Melissa Ippolito, Taxiride,
Billy Thorpe William Richard Thorpe AM (29 March 1946 – 28 February 2007) was an English-born Australian singer-songwriter, and record producer. As lead singer of his band Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, he had success in the 1960s with "Blue Day", " Poison Iv ...
,
Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to: Sports * Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City * Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...
, Renee Geyer,
Tina Harris Tina Harris is a Maryland-born singer best known for being a member of Sweetbox. Career Early life Tina Harris was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and due to her military father being stationed there, the whole family moved to Frankfurt, West ...
,
Vanessa Amorosi Vanessa Joy AmorosiSharon Verghis"Back on track" ''The Sun-Herald'', 18 October 2009, Archived fro''the original''on 6 March 2016. (born 8 August 1981) is an Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist. Her combined album and single sales ...
and Christine Anu. Australian country artist Graeme Connors sang his song "Being Here", as the event official theme song. Addresses were given by Dr John Grant, President of the SPOC and Dr
Robert Steadward Robert Daniel Steadward, (born May 26, 1946) is a Canadian retired sports administrator, professor, sports scientist, and author. Steadward helped organize the first Canadian wheelchair sport national championships in 1968, and later coached C ...
, President of the IPC prior to Sir
William Deane Sir William Patrick Deane (born 4 January 1931) is an Australian barrister and jurist who served as the 22nd governor-general of Australia, in office from 1996 to 2001. He was previously a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1982 to 19 ...
declaring the official opening of the games. This was followed by Tracey Cross, a blind swimmer, taking the oath on behalf of the athletes and Mary Longden, an Equestrian Referee, taking the oath on behalf of the officials. The Paralympic torch relay final legs were held until ending with Louise Sauvage who lit the cauldron. The closing ceremony took place on Sunday 29 October at 7.30 pm. The athletes intermingled with other nations and took to the stage for a party filled with fire, emotion and celebration. Unlike previous ceremonies,while the crisis between the divergencies between the Athens Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games(ATHOC),the greek governament and the International Paralympic Committee remained,as the next host-city had not signed all the paperwork related to the Paralympic Games, the Greek anthem was not played and the Paralympic flag was handed over to then deputy mayor of Athens, Nikos Yiatrakos.The Organizing Committee of the next Games taking advantage of the fact that the Greek community in Australia is the largest outside of Greece, invited the Millennium Choir of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The archdiocese is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinop ...
to sing the song "Axion Esti, Tis Dikiosinis Helie Noite" written and composed by
Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...
during the handover ceremony. To close the ceremonies, the first australian group to make international success outside the country,
The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...
, closed the games with " The Carnival Is Over". Due an accident some days before the event and a broken hip, the singer Judith Durham sang the song sitting in a
wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
.


Calendar

In the following calendar for the 2000 Summer Paralympics, each blue box represents an event competition. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport are held. The number in each yellow box represents the number of finals that are contested on that day.


Venues

In total 12 venues were used at the
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
were used at the Games in Sydney.


Sydney Olympic Park

*
Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
: Ceremonies (opening/closing), Athletics * Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre: Wheelchair Tennis *
State Sports Centre The State Sports Centre (known commercially as the Quaycentre) is a multi-use indoor arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and was opened in November 1984. With a total of 3,854 fixed and retractable seats the main arena is a focal point o ...
: Table Tennis * Sydney International Aquatic Centre: Swimming * Sydney International Archery Park: Archery * State Hockey Centre: Football-7-side * Sydney Showground Pavillions:ID Basketball,Goalball, Wheelchair Basketball (secondary venue), Wheelchair Rugby,Powerlifiting, Wheelchair Fencing, Sitting Volleyball and Standing Volleyball * Sydney SuperDome: Wheelchair Basketball (main venue)


Sydney

*
Centennial Parklands Centennial Parklands is the name given to a group of three urban parklands located in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Comprising approximately , the lands encompass Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queen's Park ...
: Road Cycling * Dunc Gray Velodrome : Track Cycling *
Sydney International Equestrian Centre The Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC for short) is the facility which was used to host equestrian events during the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Paralympics. The centre is located 45 kilometres from Sydney's business district ...
: Equestrian * Olympic Sailing Shore Base: Sailing * Sydney International Shooting Centre: Shooting


Torch relay

The MAA Torch Relay main objectives were to develop a route and an event which would help maintain momentum and the engagement between the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, promote the Paralympic Games and encourage ticket purchases. It was also to safely deliver the Paralympic flame to the Opening Ceremony. While the relay visited each Australian capital city, it also focused strongly on Sydney and the surrounding regions, as this was the main catchment area for ticket sales. The Paralympic Torch Relay succeeded in generating community and media support for the Games, with crowds in many areas and significant crowds lining the Sydney metropolitan route in the final two days of the relay. The flame was created from burning eucalyptus leaves in a special lighting ceremony at Parliament House, Canberra on 5 October 2000, involved 920 torchbearers in each capital of australian state, each of whom carried the flame an average of 500 metres. After visiting each capital city (except Sydney) by air and land in counterclockwise a way,the torch entered
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
(NSW) from
Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass. Moss Vale has several h ...
through the Southern Highlands,
Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...
, Campbelltown, Penrith,
Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
, Hunter and Central Coast areas before heading to Sydney Metropolitan Region. Highlights included: * The creation of the Paralympic flame during an Indigenous lighting ceremony on the forecourt of
Parliament House, Canberra Parliament House, also referred to as Capital Hill or simply Parliament, is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, and the seat of the legislative branch of the Australian Government. Located in Canberra, the Parliament building is ...
, with Paralympian David Hall as the first torchbearer. The
Australian Prime Minister The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principl ...
was present. * The use of a Royal Australian Air Force Falcon 900 Executive jet to convey the Paralympic flame around Australia. * The Paralympic flame being carried across the arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (17 October 2000) by four torchbearers.


Sports and impairment groups

The final program of the Games was presented by the Executive Council of the IPC in a meeting that took place between March 12 and 16, 1997 in Sweden. At this same meeting, SPOC presented its sustainability policies that were developed in a connected way and mirrored those implemented by SOOCOG. This program proposals needed to be independently approved by both the IPC and SPOC. The final program was turned public at the day 8 August 1997,and some changes were made in comparation to Atlanta, including the removal of 4 events in table tennis, 3 in shooting and 3 more in cycling. However, the program for the intellectually disabled has been expanded. For this disability, 14 new events in athletics, 18 in swimming and 2 in table tennis were added. Also an ID basketball tournament with 8-teams was also added. Track cycling has had its program completely overhauled and 9 new events have been added. Following its Olympic version, Powerlifting won 10 all-female events, wheelchair rugby and sailing officially became a Paralympic sports and with that the rugby tournament was expanded from 6 to 8 teams and single-handed 2.4mR event was added. * Archery *
Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
* Basketball ID *
Boccia Boccia ( ) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – '. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes ...
*
Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...
*
Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
* Football 7-a-side *
Goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded inside of it into the opponents' goal. The ball is thrown by hand a ...
*
Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
*
Powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effo ...
*
Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...
*
Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...
*
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
*
Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
* Volleyball (sitting and standing) *
Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
*
Wheelchair fencing Wheelchair fencing is a version of fencing for athletes with a disability. Wheelchair fencing is governed by the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation that is a federation of the International Paralympic Committee, and is one o ...
*
Wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US na ...
*
Wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, ...
Impairment groups for the games included: * Amputees * Blind & Visually Impaired * Cerebral Palsied * Intellectually Disabled * Les Autres and * Spinal Cord Injuries


Games highlights

The Sydney Paralympics were deemed the "best Games ever" by Dr.
Robert Steadward Robert Daniel Steadward, (born May 26, 1946) is a Canadian retired sports administrator, professor, sports scientist, and author. Steadward helped organize the first Canadian wheelchair sport national championships in 1968, and later coached C ...
(then president of the International Paralympic Committee). The games were Australia's most successful in history, with the nation achieving their highest medal count. Of the 149 medals won, 63 were gold, 39 silver, and 47 were bronze, from ten different sports. Ticket sales exceeded organisers' initial targets, with 1.1 million tickets sold; nearly twice that of the
1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where Internatio ...
. The Australian team had a number of notable gold medal-winning performances. Individual achievements included swimmer
Siobhan Paton Siobhan Bethany Paton, OAM (born 28 August 1983) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer who was born in Sydney. Paton has had an intellectual disability from birth which was a consequence a lack of oxygen. Paton decided to become a swimmer after ...
's six gold medals in the 200m SM14 individual medley, and S14 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 200m freestyle, and 50m freestyle. She set nine world records in the process. Tim Sullivan topped the track and field medal tally with five gold medals. Sullivan won three gold medals in the T38 200m, 100m, and 400m events, and won two gold medals in relay events alongside
Darren Thrupp Darren Brian Thrupp, OAM (born 6 December 1966) is an Australian Paralympic athlete competing mainly in category T37 sprint events. He has won nine medals at six Paralympics. Biography Thrupp was born in the Queensland town of Kilcoy. He acqu ...
, Adrian Grogan and Kieran Ault-Connell (T38 4X400m and 4X100m races). The top performing female track and field athlete was Lisa Llorens, who won three gold medals from the F20 high jump, long jump and T20 200m. Llorens also won a silver medal in the T20 100m. Other track medallists included
Neil Fuller Neil Robert Fuller, OAM (born 2 August 1969 in Shoreham by Sea, Sussex) is an Australian athlete, Paralympic competitor, and amputee. During his youth, Neil was an ambitious soccer player, gaining a position playing at state level for So ...
won two golds in the T44 200m, and 400m events, as well as one individual bronze medal in the T44 100m. Fuller later combined with Tim Matthews, Stephen Wilson and Heath Francis to win another two gold medals in the T45 4X100m relay and T46 4X400m relay. Heath Francis went on to win a total of three golds and one silver after also winning an individual gold and silver in the T46 400m and T46 200m events respectively. Other track medallists were Amy Winters with two golds in the T46 200m and 100m T46, and a bronze in the T46 400m. Greg Smith also won three gold medals in the 800m, 5,000m and 1,500m T52 events. In Cycling, Matthew Gray won two golds in the velodrome in the individual cycling mixed 1 km time trial LC1, and a gold in the mixed team sprint with Paul Lake and Greg Ball. Sarnya Parker and Tania Morda also won two golds in the women's cycling tandem 1 km time trial and women's tandem cycling individual pursuit open.


Medal count

A total of 1657 medals were awarded during the Sydney games: 550 gold, 549 silver, and 558 bronze. The host country, Australia, topped the medal count with more gold medals and more medals overall than any other nation. Great Britain took the most silver medals, with 43, and tied Australia for the most bronze medals, with 47. In the table below, the ranking sorts by the number of gold medals earned by a nation (in this context a nation is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals.


Participating delegations

One-hundred and twenty-three delegations participated in the Sydney Paralympics. Included among them was a team of "Individual Paralympic Athletes" from
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...
. The newly independent country had not yet established a
National Paralympic Committee A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...
, so the International Paralympic Committee invited East Timorese athletes to compete at the games under the title of Individual Paralympic Athletes.
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
,
Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
,
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
, El Salvador, Laos,
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, Lesotho,
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
,
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
, Mauritania,
Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, Palestine, Rwanda,
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
,
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
,
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
and
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
competed for the first time. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chinese Taipei (25) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Individual Paralympic Athletes (2) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Media coverage

Media coverage of the Paralympic Games has steadily increased over the years. In the table below, the approximate number of accredited media at the Paralympic Summer Games from 1992 to 2008 has been listed. The
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
had approximately 200 staff in Sydney for the Olympic games, 6 of whom stayed on to cover the Paralympic games. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired four one-hour shows of the Paralympic Games after the event was finished.
TV New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...
also aired four one-hour specials of the games post event. In the United States,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
broadcast a special called ''Role Models for the 21st Century: The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games''. The special was two hours long and aired in November. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) allowed viewers the opportunity to express their opinions towards the games. Comments were posted under the heading "Has the Sydney Paralympics been a success?" on their website. One viewer, Carole Neale from England, was cited as posting: "I am so disappointed to find the coverage limited to less than an hour per evening, on at a time when most people are still travelling home from work, and dismissed to BBC2, unlike the Olympics which had a prime time evening slot on BBC1 as well as constant live coverage".


Views

Dame
Tanni Grey-Thompson Carys Davina Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson, (born 26 July 1969), known as Tanni Grey-Thompson, is a Welsh politician, television presenter and former wheelchair racer. Athletic career Grey-Thompson's Paralympic career started in the 1 ...
, multiple Paralympic gold medallist for Great Britain, later said of the Sydney Games: :''"Sydney 2000 will always hold a special place in the hearts of everyone who was there. The Aussies love their sport and they treated us simply as sportsmen and women. We weren't regarded as role models or inspirations, we were competitors. Some of us won gold medals, most didn't, but, hey, that's life. Sydney was phenomenal because, from day one, you felt there was something extraordinarily special in the air. Sydney was an athletic Disneyland, it was where magic happened. It probably marked the time and place when Paralympians genuinely became part of the Olympic Movement."''"Please don't cry for them"
, ''The National'', 31 August 2008


See also

*
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
* 2032 Summer Paralympics * Cheating at the Paralympic Games *
2000 Summer Paralympics medal table The medal table of the 2000 Summer Paralympics ranks the participating National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the competition. This was the eleventh Summer Paralympic Games, a quadrennia ...


Bibliography


Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee Annual Report. 1995-2000


References


External links


Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games
– archived websites in PANDORA
"Participation Numbers: Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games"
International Paralympic Committee
Interview with Paralypian Judy Siegle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summer Paralympics
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
2000 in Australian sport 2000 in multi-sport events Australia at the Paralympics Multi-sport events in Australia International sports competitions hosted at Sydney Olympic Park October 2000 sports events in Australia 2000s in Sydney