Australia was the host nation for the 2000 Summer Paralympics which was held in Sydney. Australia competed in the games between 18 and 29 October. The team consisted of 285 athletes in 18 sports with 148 officials. It was the country's largest ever Paralympic delegation to a Games. Australia has participated at every Summer Paralympic Games since its inception. Australia finished at the top of the medal tally with 63 gold, 39 silver and 47 bronze medals to total 149 medals for the games. This was the first time and the only time to date that Australia has finished on top of either an Olympic or Paralympic medal tally."Sydney Paralympic Games Closed at High Tune", People's Daily, Retrieved 30 October 2000
The most successful sports were athletics, cycling, equestrian, swimming and wheelchair tennis. As one of the sporting events, sailing involved the implementation of forecasting systems and services in Sydney Harbour, in addition to the recruitment of professionals to design the project’s plans and processes. This occurred in order to fulfil the requirements of both event organisers, competitors and visitors.
Notable Australian performances were: Siobhan Paton won six gold medals in S14 swimming events and set six world records Timothy Sullivan won five gold medals and set five world records in athletics Neil Fuller, a leg amputee sprinter, won four gold medals and one bronze medal and was flag bearer at the closing ceremony Lisa Llorens won three gold medals and one silver medal in athletics Greg Smith in wheelchair athletics events won three gold medals Lisa McIntosh won three gold medals in athletics Athletes who won two individual gold medals were: Louise Sauvage, Russell Short, Amy Winters, Julie Higgins, Kingsley Bugarin, and Gemma Dashwood. Ultimately, this event has historically influenced The Australian Paralympic Movement and has present impacts on the social development of the Australian nation and its disabled community. Noting the access and disability challenges experienced prior to and during the Games, the outcomes of central organisational bodies responsible for devising and executing plans associated with this have been reviewed. Following the announcement of Sydney being the host city for the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games on 23 September 1993, the NSW Government established central organisations and bodies to distribute the workload, responsibilities and eventually, allocated funding based on this.
Context
The games were the eleventh Summer Paralympics since its commencement in 1960. The opening ceremony took place on 18 October, followed by eleven days of intense competition. As the hosting nation, Sydney implemented a number of conservation and environmental education actions. The dedication to water saving techniques during both the Olympic and Paralympic games led to praise from the International Paralympic Committee. Many held the organization of the games in high esteem. This success was attributed to the coordination between the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee and the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.
The Mascot for the games was 'Lizzie' the frill-neck lizard, a well-known Australian animal. The voice for 'Lizzie' was Olivia Newton-John, singer and actor. 'Lizzie' was well marketed and considered a successful iconic representation of the Sydney Paralympic games.
Australia topped the medal count for the first time in games history, with a total of 149 medals. Notable performances from the Australian team include Siobhan Paton (swimming) with six gold medals, Tim Sullivan (track and field) with five gold medals and Matthew Gray (cycling) with two gold medals.
Background Several Australian venues were used to host the Sydney 2000 Paralympic games. Listed below are the main locations and a brief description of the events at each: Anne Clark Netball Centre, Lidcombe – Volleyball (Sitting & Standing), Dunc Gray Velodrome, Bass Hill – Cycling, Equestrian Centre, Horsley Park – Equestrian, Exhibition Halls, Darling Harbour – Judo, Wheelchair Fencing, Sailing Marina, Rushcutters Bay – Sailing Shooting Centre, Cecil Park – Shooting Sydney Olympic Park – Archery, Athletics, Basketball (Wheelchair & Intellectually Disabled), Boccia, Football, Goalball, Powerlifting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Wheelchair Rugby, Wheelchair Tennis. Huge crowds were drawn to these locations, namely some 340 000 school children. Schools were provided with free day tickets for students to attend, promoting the major schools education project which ran alongside the games. The Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee (SOCOG) and the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC) held an administrative and organisational partnership to deliver three months of festivals including the Olympic Games, Paralympics Games and cultural festival. This partnership alleviated transitional issues present at the 1996 Atlanta games, due to cross involvement between the committees at all events.
Prime Minister John Howard wished the team good luck and said: "Their gold medal tally at Atlanta was second only and our team in Sydney next year will be the largest and strongest ever."
Howard mentioned during his speech that the government has provided the athletes with A$5.5 million to prepare for the games. The Australian Paralympic team launch took place during Paralympic Week. There were a number of other events prior to the commencement of the games including the launch of the formal uniforms at the museum of contemporary art and the Nike launch where both Olympic and Paralympic athletes modelled side by side.
Team There were 285 athletes participating in 18 sports. The Australian team had the largest number of athletes with an intellectual disability, a total of 30. Brendan Burkett, Australian Paralympic swimmer was the opening ceremony flag bearer and Neil Fuller, Australian Paralympic athletics medalist was the closing ceremony flag bearer. Australian athlete Louise Sauvage lit the Paralympic Cauldron at the opening ceremony.
The Chef de Mission was Paul Bird, a Paralympic medalist in 1980 and 1984. He was supported by four assistant Chef de Missions; Keith Gilbert, Greg Campbell, Tony Naar and Robyn Smith.
Medalists