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A decade since the Olympic ... effort by my Russian gran

Anthony Sharwood

by Anthony Sharwood

15 Sep 02:02pm

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Filed under: Australia, Olympic Games, Sport, Sydney 2000

28 comments

It’s 10 years today since the start of the Sydney Olympics, otherwise known as the greatest party ever. Flew by, didn’t it. This isn’t a long, boring treatise on the legacy of the Games, although if you want to have a whinge about white elephants, or elephants of any colour, don’t let me stop you.

Cathy's bound to have some good memories from 2000. Picture: Colleen Petch.

I, for one, can’t believe the NSW government is blowing $45 million to revamp the Sydney Showground for the Western Sydney Battlers or whatever the new AFL team ends up being called. Wait. It’s the NSW government. Of course I can believe it.

But like I say, this isn’t a whinge piece. It’s basically just an invitation to share your memories of that wonderful time.

Click on my CV at the top of this piece and you’ll see I drove cabs throughout the Games, as part of a project which became a book which later became a play. So excuse the pun, but allow me to be first cab off the rank with a good yarn.

It was late in the games and I had a member of the gold medal-winning Russian handball team in my cab. He was off to a mate’s house for dinner. Problem is, he spoke no English and his mate’s address was written in Russian.

No worries. I simply called my Russian grandmother. Though she lived in a nursing home in Melbourne and didn’t quite understand what was happening, she was savvy enough to translate his directions in a hilarious three-way phone relay.

As I’ve written in this month’s Alpha magazine, that’s the kind of magic that occurred countless times on the streets of Sydney during the Olympics.

Oh, and while I’m gratuitously plugging this month’s Alpha, I should mention that my piece includes interviews with eight Australian gold medalists from Sydney 2000. Ian Thorpe is one of them, but they’re not all big names, and many have taken wildly differing paths over the last 10 years.

But enough from me. Give me your Sydney 2000 stories, regrets etc. The best response gets a free copy of my taxi book, if I can find one in the attic. The book ain’t War and Peace, but it will take you back to the streets of Sydney, during possibly the last two weeks in this city’s life where people routinely forgot to be abrupt and rude to each other.

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28 comments

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    • Macca says:

      02:42pm | 15/09/10

      I think I was one of Australia’s bad luck charms at the 2000 olympics.

      I was lucky enough to go to the Opening Ceremony; the Torch stops halfway

      I went to the Athletics to see Jane Saville get red-carded on her way into the stadium for the walk

      and I went to see Australia play some Eastern European country that may or may not still exist in European Handball. I can’t recall the final result but it was a cricket score.

      I also went to the women’s hockey, but can’t remember much of the game ( I was a teenage boy, and despite the widely spread assumptions of which team the Hockeyroos actually play on, I could not stop looking at those girls’ wonderful legs!)

      We used to walk to Concord West station through Bicentennial park at the end of a day to get home. Lovely way to finish the evening. My Aunt’s relatives are from Germany and they came over to visit for a bit during the Olympics. They complained they were missing Oktoberfest. The atmosphere throughout Sydney was so festive and inclusive, and ironically, the only time I have ever been to an event where unbriddled joy was so vigorously shared by all involved was Oktoberfest.

      Also, to join your rant, Sharwood. I have a sneaking suspicion we’d have a new trainline and Motorway in Sydney (we’d maybe even have 3!) if we didn’t have the Olympics. How they managed to ge the public transport to work so seemlessly during that 3 weeks was a miracle!

      Reply

    • Ant Sharwood says:

      03:22pm | 15/09/10

      Yeah, and double yeah about the hockey players’ legs. I went to Germany vs Argentina. Legs that simply did not know when to quit.

    • Jess says:

      02:52pm | 15/09/10

      My best memory is of my family travelling to the olympics to see a sport we all of a sudden loved but had no idea what is was about - badminton. I remember, as a ten year old, asking mum why we were going to see this sport, and why weren’t the athletes wearing “mittons”. She said, “when you have something this great come to town, you have to suck it up and visit whatever sport you can” - in regards to the mittons, I cannot remember the tone of her laugh, but no doubt she thought I was cute.
      But I was just one of many Aussies, who followed everyone else to watch the games, regardless of the country playing, or the unknown sport being played.

      Reply

    • fairsfair says:

      03:15pm | 15/09/10

      Being so far away and young and not in attendence of any events made no difference - Olympic fever was apparent. Every far reach of this country felt proud to be Australian. My favourite memory was Roy and HG’s “The Dream”. It was such a well timed commentary that could not and has not ever been repeated. They were right place, right time and I remember it being so so funny. Watching it back in 2010 I’d probably take a different opinion - but you have to acknowlege that the Olympic games brought with them a feeling that we as a nation will probably never have again. It was fun.

      Reply

    • farkurnell says:

      09:41pm | 15/09/10

      agreed. ‘The Dream” was some of best Aussie TV ever made.The Mascot ‘s high dive comp was a classic,. Fatso lives on in my memory. Not only the best games ever,but the best mascots ever.

    • fairsfair says:

      11:05am | 16/09/10

      I just loved their commentary of things like Rhythmic Gymnastics. I remember crying with laughter and descriptives like “battered sav” and “split difference” have lived on. It was almost like that scene from the Castle where they are all watching Red Faces “gong him Red”. There would only be one thing better than the Dream and that would have been the Best of the Dream.

    • Macca says:

      03:27pm | 15/09/10

      John Clarke’s The Games was also one of the Greatest Australian Comedy TV Shows of all time. Some of the Characterisations of the Australian Political Process were gold!

      Reply

    • nosthow says:

      04:22pm | 15/09/10

      A great event for Australia Anthony and we watched the main ceremonies on tv and some of the events. But honestly I live in Brisbane and it was a bit of a non event here - Sydneys Olympic Games wasnt it ? Marion somebody the runner broke records and we later found out she was high on drugs and so it all droned on and on .........

      Reply

    • Barry says:

      06:50pm | 15/09/10

      I can understand the NSW government contributing to an investment in a stadium that will produce net economic benefits for the state. What I can’t understand is the $50 million they handed out to host the NRL grand final, like that was going anywhere.

      Reply

    • Daniel says:

      08:50pm | 15/09/10

      I was an Olympic Volunteer in the Athletics results section.  I was the person who was sitting at the computer to make sure that Swiss Timing sent through the correct results, including Cathy Freemans 400M Womens Final.  Once I quickly verified that Swiss Timing sent through the correct information I allowed it in to a second computer in front of me.  At that time, the scoreboard was updated with the results, media had the results, the TV overlay was updated.

      Oh, and to all those who complained she was in Lane 5…. blame my Father, he allocated her that lane.  He’s even got Swiss Timing to print him out a copy of the photofinish which he still has!

      Later that night I went down and got a picture of myself standing on the medals podium decked out in my Volunteers uniform holding an Aussie flag.

      Best memory was the atmosphere and small things which happened along the way which only my group of volunteers would get.  One thing that people would fine amusing (I’ve got a copy of it somewhere here), was the sheet which USA teem manager submitted for the 4x400 relay where they had misspelt Marion Jones name and had the country listed as “United States of American”.

      It was a wonderful time!

      Reply

    • Let's move on... says:

      09:47pm | 15/09/10

      Quite frankly I can’t recall a thing about the 2000 Olympics – it was a decade ago, after all! What does anyone remember about the 1996 Olympics (where were they again?), or the 2004 games? Nothing, right? No one outside of Sydney has given the 2000 Olympics a second’s thought since they finished. The day after the games were over they were already yesterday’s news. Does anyone still talk about the recent soccer World Cup? Nope. It was bigger than the Olympics and ended just two months ago! Can anyone name where the 2006 soccer World Cup was held? Or the 2002 World Cup? Probably not. If you ask anyone from overseas where the 2000 Olympics were held, none of them would know the answer. For some bizarre reason, Sydney people believe the rest of the country feels the same way about the 2000 Olympics that they do. We don’t. The 2008 Beijing Opening Ceremony made the Sydney games look like an amateur High School play. And London 2012 will show the difference between what a world-class city can achieve compared to a minor town that no one outside of Oz can find on a map. Sorry to burst the bubble, Sydney, but no one remembers and no one cares.

      Reply

    • Macca says:

      08:16am | 16/09/10

      I remember Kieren Perkins getting under 15mins in the 1500m swim at the ‘96 Olympics. I remember Carl Lewis’ Long Jump at the ‘92 Olympics. 2004 Olympics, Jane Saville’s Silver and (the infamous) Sally Robbins in the Women’s 8 rowing.

      As for Football World Cup, 2002 was in South Korea and Japan, remarkable for Turkey coming third (beating South Korea) and two Asian teams making the last 8. It was the first world Cup held outside Europe or South America and was Brazil’s 5th World Cup Win. 2006, in Germany, won by Italy and characterised by increadibly low scoring (even by Soccer standards), less than 2 goals a game on average. The pinnacle was Zinadine Zidane’s Headbut on Marco Mattarazi, result in a Red Card. 2010 WC, First to be held in Africa and resulted in the worst performance by a host nation ever. It saw a large number of goals (nearly 3 a game on average) and was all about Holding Midfielders, Large Lone Strikers and Fast athletic wingers and attacking players, many playing on their “opposite side”; Left footers like Robben and Ozil dominating the right flank, whilst Right Footers like Klose and Sneidjer operating on the Left.

      Basically, there are still plenty of people who like to reminise and re-live some of the most enjoyable sporting experiences of their lives. My advice, @Let’s move on, relax a little, and stop worrying what others think. And let others celebrate.

    • Ant Sharwood says:

      11:28am | 16/09/10

      It’s not my experience that no one else cared, or cares. I can’t tell you how many Australians from out of Sydney I carried in the cab who were thrilled with how brilliantly the Olympics ran. The mood really was amazing, and all state rivalries were cast aside back then. If you weren’t there, it’‘s hard to understand. But many people do remember, and extremely fondly at that.

    • AlexW says:

      11:14pm | 15/09/10

      I had the flu during the first week that resulted in a miscarriage…but otherwise… on the 2nd last night watching Korean athletes dancing in a conga-line singing “oogie-oogie-oogie-oi-oi-oi” in front of the Museum of Modern Art, followed by an evening cruise on the harbour on the second last night. My father-in-law as one of the ‘Captain Cook Cruises’ skippers telling us how much more difficult it was to manouver around the massive liner (the ‘Crystal Harmony’) inhabited by IOC members. Seeing the Olympic rings on the Harbour Bridge ( I knew the family of the electrician from Picton who made them!) Also how easy it was to drive around - most Sydney-siders had left town on cheap (near empty) flights outtathere!

      Reply

    • Mike says:

      11:22pm | 15/09/10

      I remember sitting infront of the telly after school watching the Opening Ceremony - I was 10 at the time. Soon after, I had a liking towards tap dancing (Bootmen), and dreamt of meeting a beach-blonde girl waking up in my dream time.

      Reply

    • Ted Polglaze says:

      11:58pm | 15/09/10

      I have 2 main memories from the Sydney Olympics.  I saw 26 different sports over the 2 weeks, but it’s times when I wasn’t actually at the sport that I remember most.

      The first was when I was out at the slalom canoeing, which was on at the same time as Simon Fairweather’s gold medal archery final.  Like a few others in the crowd, I had my Walkman on listening to the ABC & sure enough they were covering the archery.  Who would have ever thought listening to archery live on radio would be exciting!  Sure enough, he won the gold, and those of us with radios let those around us know.  This massive cheer went up in the crowd at the slalom canoeing even though there wasn’t much happening in the water in front of us.

      The other story is on the Saturday night of the middle weekend.  I’d been to the trampolining & watched Ji Wallace win silver.  I was in the bus heading back out to Bella Vista & listening to the women’s water polo gold medal game on my Walkman - as were a few other people on the bus.  We were all cheering madly, & when they won, we started doing mexican waves up and down the bus.  Even the bus driver joined in!

      Reply

    • Daniel says:

      04:59am | 16/09/10

      1996 was at Atlanta… What do I remember? Perkins swim.
      Actually I can answer all of your questions off the top my head, get rid of that chip on your shoulder.

      Dan from Melbourne

      Reply

    • Tarzan says:

      06:48am | 16/09/10

      My greatest memory is the 400 metre womens World Champion suddenly leaving for no explicable reason. And then a country is filled patriotism.

      Reply

    • Denny Crane says:

      08:13am | 16/09/10

      I was working in the IOC lounge of the Sydney Superdomw, and had the fun of going out drinking with one of the hungarian gymanstic coaches, first of at the sydney super dome.

      The down at the casino till about 3, finally getting her back to the village at 5, and getting myself back to the IOC lounge by 9.

      That was a long day after that

      Reply

    • fairsfair says:

      11:44am | 16/09/10

      Mr Crane, tut tut! 2 unaccounted for hours there after you left the Casino….

    • Phill says:

      10:05am | 16/09/10

      My biggest memory was of it being called “The best Olympics ever”.  Why?  because it has been repeated over and over and over during the last 10 years by people who actually believe the speaker meant those words.
      I remember disbelief that they chose “Golden Girl’ Kathy Freeman to open the games when i thought there were a lot more deserving people at the time.
      My favourite memory is Eric the Eel.  That is a man who fought adversity to do what he believed in.  No million dollar pools to train in.  No massive sponsorship deal.  Just a heart that could kick start a Mack Truck and a lot of desire.

      Reply

    • Isabel says:

      11:30am | 16/09/10

      My main memory of the opening ceremony is that a relay of seven women handled the torch on its final step to lighting the flame and thinking that the symbolism of the Seven Sisters would be understood by all indigenous persons.

      Reply

    • Old Man says:

      11:32am | 16/09/10

      I went to a soccer double-header at the SFS.
      On the walk back to Central, someone had a radio on with the women’s water polo final on. Australia had about 1 second to win it.
      I piped up “that’s plenty of time to win it in” as a joke.
      But it was no joke. We scored in that second and won.
      As we strode across Moore Park, that was one happy crowd.

      Reply

    • Phill says:

      02:55pm | 16/09/10

      I watched that game in the local pub.  The place erupted when that goal hit the back of the net.

    • Swade says:

      11:45am | 16/09/10

      I had just separated from my wife the week before the games started and I took off up to Queensland to clear my head.  I stayed with a friend and her family and we were all pretty much Olympic mad anyway, so there was plenty of games watching.

      We went to see Cameroon play soccer (against one of the Euro teams) in Brisvegas and all three goals for the game were scored at our end of the pitch.  Little did we know we were watching the gold medallists-to-be.  During the game, an Aussie won gold at the pool and a huge cheer went up around the stadium.

      I also remember the Simon Fairweather gold in the archery tournament.  We were sitting around at ‘home’ just watching this bloke in sunnies who seemed to be hanging in there all throughout the competition.  As time went on, it became apparent that he wasn’t just hanging around.  He was unfancied yet he seemed to have ice in his veins.  When he made that last target, we tore the roof off the sucker.  It was one of those unexpected golds and pure joy for everyone who saw it evolve, I think.

      I love sport and the Olympics is close to as good as it gets.  I’m just pleased we had one at home in my lifetime.

      Reply

    • Ant Sharwood says:

      12:18pm | 16/09/10

      Swade, ya gotta read my piece in Alpha. I interviewed Fairweather and even though the piece is brief, he talks precisely about that ice in his veins, and how he psyched out his opponent. Revealing stuff.

    • Lauren says:

      12:05pm | 16/09/10

      I was only in my mid-teens and didn’t go to any actual events of the ‘Olympics’ but I just loved it.
      - Going into the city with my mum to watch the giant live screens and the atmosphere when watching Jumping Jai in the long jump
      - Being in the city the night of the Closing Ceremony and everyone was so happy
      - Watching Cathy Freeman on my little tv in my bedroom and just being so proud that she won
      - Eric the Eel - who could forget

      I had the great experience of going to events at the Paralympics and I was blown away by these amazing athletes. I remember watching a sport where the blind were set up like on a dodgeball field but they had to throw the ball into the goal at the other end. They were brilliant.

      Reply

    • Football Tickets says:

      09:09pm | 04/10/10

      Moving the Hammers to the Olympic stadium would be right for London and the team. The stadium will need a tenant long term to keep it running so that athletic events can even take place… And talk of taking the entire upper level off and reducing the seats to 20,000 would be foolish and more importantly expensive.

      Reply
 
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