Sydney – 2000

Because the Atlanta Games were so lackluster there were low expectations for the Games of Sydney.  Australia had not hosted since the Olympics in Melbourne way back in 1956, the year the Soviet Union became serious about athletics as a vehicle for propaganda.

To call the Sydney Olympics “the greatest Games ever” is almost an understatement.  This “sports mad nation” fielded a strong team, had their athletic venues completely finished more than a year in advance, sold out 97.9% of the available tickets to the events including more than 110,000 every day for track and field.  The weather was fantastic throughout most of the 17 days of competition despite the continent being in its early spring season.

The one major problem, from the perspective of the television broadcast, was the severe time difference between Sydney and the United States.  With the explosion of the internet since the ’96 Games, results were available immediately and prolifically which meant NBC’s Olympics broadcast could be effectively counter-programmed by the other major networks.

Also, the fact that the dates ran into early October, meant the Olympics were competing with the end of the major league baseball season and the early college football games, a formidable collection of challenges for a network to corral an audience.

But corral a significant audience they did.  An audience that was treated to the five medal winning performance of American Marion Jones as she became the first female Olympic track & field athlete to accomplish the feat.

The duels between the U.S. and Australia in the pool were memorable with the world being introduced to “the Thorpedo”, Ian Thorpe, who at 17 lived up to all his country’s expectations.

Most people unfamiliar with “the land Down Under” were surprised at its beauty, sophistication, and similarities to many metropolitan U.S. cities.  I expect there were a significant number of relocations by people around the world after visiting this incredible country.

I returned a couple weeks after the Closing Ceremonies to host the webcast coverage of the Paralympic Games.  We called more than 425 track races amongst the different categories of physically and intellectually challenged athletes.  At the time, Australia had the most powerful Paralympics team in the world and many of the sessions at the Olympic Stadium were attended by spectators in excess of 55,000.

The love of sport and the devotion to physical well-being is a theme that permeates the entire culture of the Oceania continent.  They should host an Olympics as often as the U.S. does.