2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympic Games known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and known as Sydney 2000 or the Millennium Olympic Games/Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event, held between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was the second time that the Summer Olympics were held in Australia, the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1956. Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 Games in 1993. Teams from 199 countries participated; the Games’ cost was estimated to be A$6.6 billion. The Games received universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers and Australian public being lauded in the international media. Bill Bryson from The Times called the Sydney Games "one of the most successful events on the world stage", saying that they "couldn't be better". James Mossop of the Electronic Telegraph called the Games "such a success that any city considering bidding for future Olympics must be wondering how it can reach the standards set by Sydney", while Jack Todd in the Montreal Gazette suggested that the "IOC should quit while it's ahead.
Admit there can never be a better Olympic Games, be done with it," as "Sydney was both exceptional and the best". In preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Lord Coe declared the Sydney Games the "benchmark for the spirit of the Games, unquestionably" and admitting that the London organising committee "attempted in a number of ways to emulate what the Sydney Organising Committee did." These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch. These were the second Olympic Games to be held in spring and is to date the most recent games not to be held in its more traditional July or August summer slot; the final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by Russia and China with host Australia at fourth place overall. Several World and Olympic records were broken during the games. With little or no controversies, the games were deemed successful with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. Sydney won the right to host the Games on 24 September 1993, after being selected over Beijing, Berlin and Manchester in four rounds of voting, at the 101st IOC Session in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
The Australian city of Melbourne had lost out to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics four years earlier. Beijing lost its bid to host the games to Sydney in 1993, but was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics in July 2001 after Sydney hosted the previous year, it would be awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics twenty-two years in 2015. Although it is impossible to know why members of the International Olympic Committee voted for Sydney over Beijing in 1993, it appears that an important role was played by Human Rights Watch's campaign to "stop Beijing" because of China's human rights record. Many in China were angry at what they saw as U. S.-led interference in the vote, the outcome contributed to rising anti-Western sentiment in China and tensions in Sino-American relations. The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at USD 5 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 90% in real terms; this includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g. expenditures for technology, workforce, security, catering and medical services, direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g. the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, media and press center, which are required to host the Games.
Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost for Sydney 2000 compares with a cost of USD 4.6 billion for Rio 2016, USD 40–44 billion for Beijing 2008 and USD 51 billion for Sochi 2014, the most expensive Olympics in history. Average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD 5.2 billion, average cost overrun is 176%. In 2000, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6.6 billion, with a net cost to the public between A$1.7 and A$2.4 billion. Many venues were constructed in the Sydney Olympic Park, which failed in the years following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses. In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and health programs to cover Olympic expenses, it has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2.1 billion has been shaved from public consumption.
Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years after 2000, foreign tourism to NSW grew by less than tourism to Australia as a whole. A "multiplier" effect on broader economic development is not realised, as a simple "multiplier" analysis fails to capture is that resources have to be redirected from elsewhere: the building of a stadium is at the expense of other public works such as extensions to hospitals. Building sporting venues does not add to the aggregate stock of productive capital in the years following the Games: "Equestrian centres, softball compounds and man-made rapids are not useful beyond their immediate function." In the years after the games, infrastructure issues have been of growing concern to citizens those in the western suburbs of Sydney. Proposed rail links to Sydney's west have been estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games. Although the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony was not sc
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, South Australia to the west, its coast borders the Tasman Sea to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, Australia's most populous city. In September 2018, the population of New South Wales was over 8 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state's population, 5.1 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen; the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825; the colony included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the colony's area was detached to form separate British colonies that became New Zealand and the various states and territories of Australia.
However, the Swan River Colony has never been administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal territory, as have the areas now known as the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory; the prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region; the Wodi Wodi people are the original custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. Speaking a variant of the Dharawal language, the Wodi Wodi people lived across a large stretch of land, surrounded by what is now known as Campbelltown, Shoalhaven River and Moss Vale; the Bundjalung people are the original custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the unmapped eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland, now Australia.
In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land "New Wales", named after Wales. However, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he "revised the wording" to "New South Wales"; the first British settlement was made by. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, a new governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, was sent from Britain to reform the settlement in 1809. During his time as governor, Macquarie commissioned the construction of roads, wharves and public buildings, sent explorers out from Sydney and employed a planner to design the street layout of Sydney. Macquarie's legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855. Following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840.
In 1841 it was separated from the Colony of New South Wales to form the new Colony of New Zealand. Charles Darwin visited Australia in January 1836 and in The Voyage of the Beagle records his hesitations about and fascination with New South Wales, including his speculations about the geological origin and formation of the great valleys, the aboriginal population, the situation of the convicts, the future prospects of the country. At the end of the 19th century, the movement toward federation between the Australian colonies gathered momentum. Conventions and forums involving colony leaders were held on a regular basis. Proponents of New South Wales as a free trade state were in dispute with the other leading colony Victoria, which had a protectionist economy. At this time customs posts were common on borders on the Murray River. Travelling from New South Wales to Victoria in those days was difficult. Supporters of federation included the New South Wales premier Sir Henry Parkes whose 1889 Tenterfield Speech was pivotal in gathering support for New South Wales involvement.
Edmund Barton to become Australia's first Prime Minister, was another strong advocate for federation and a meeting held in Corowa in 1893 drafted an initial constitution. In 1898 popular referenda on the proposed federation were held in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. All votes resulted in a majority in favour, but the New South Wales government under Premier George Reid had set a requirement for a higher "yes" vote than just a simple majority, not met. In 1899 further referenda were held in the same states as well as Queensland. All resulted in yes votes with majorities increased from the previous year. New South Wales met the conditions; as a compromise to the question on where the capital was to be located, an agreement was made that the site was to be within New South Wales but not closer than 100 miles from Sydney, while the provisional capital would be Melbourne. The area that now forms the Australian Capital Territory was ceded by New South Wales when Canberra was selected.
In the years after World War I, the high prices enjoyed durin
Shooting sports
Shooting sports is a collective group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy and speed in shooting, using various types of ranged weapons referring to man-portable guns and bows/crossbows. Different disciplines of shooting sports can be categorized by equipment, shooting distances, time limits and degrees of athleticism involved. Shooting sports may involve both team and individual competition, team performance is assessed by summing the scores of the individual team members. Due to the noise of shooting and the high impact energy of the projectiles, shooting sports are conducted at either designated permanent shooting ranges or temporary shooting fields in the area away from settlements; the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom was founded in 1860 to raise the funds for an annual national rifle meeting "for the encouragement of Volunteer Rifle Corps and the promotion of Rifle-shooting throughout Great Britain". For similar reasons, concerned over poor marksmanship during the American Civil War, veteran Union officers Col. William C.
Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the National Rifle Association of America in 1871 for the purpose of promoting and encouraging rifle shooting on a "scientific" basis. In 1872, with financial help from New York state, a site on Long Island, the Creed Farm, was purchased for the purpose of building a rifle range. Named Creedmoor, the range opened in 1872, became the site of the first National Matches until New York politics forced the NRA to move the matches to Sea Girt, New Jersey; the popularity of the National Matches soon forced the event to be moved to its present, much larger location: Camp Perry. In 1903, the U. S. Congress created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice, an advisory board to the Secretary of the Army, with a nearly identical charter to the NRA; the NBPRP participates in the National Matches at Camp Perry. In 1903, the NRA began to establish rifle clubs at all major colleges and military academies. By 1906, youth programs were in full swing with more than 200 boys competing in the National Matches.
Today, more than one million youth participate in shooting sports events and affiliated programs through groups such as 4-H, the Boy Scouts of America, the American Legion, U. S. Jaycees, NCAA, The USA High School Clay Target League, the Scholastic Clay Target Program, National Guard Bureau, ROTC, JROTC. French pistol champion and founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, participated in many of these early competitions; this fact contributed to the inclusion of five shooting events in the 1896 Olympics. Over the years, the events have been changed a number of times in order to keep up with technology and social standards; the targets that resembled humans or animals in their shape and size have are now a circular shape in order to avoid associating the sport with any form of violence. At the same time, some events have been dropped and new ones have been added; the 2004 Olympics featured three shooting disciplines where athletes competed for 51 medals in 10 men's and 7 women's events—slightly fewer than the previous Olympic schedule.
In the Olympic Games, the shooting sport has always enjoyed the distinction of awarding the first medals of the Games. Internationally, the International Shooting Sport Federation has oversight of all Olympic shooting events worldwide, while National Governing Bodies administer the sport within each country. Having established shooting as an organized sport in the US, the NRA was the obvious choice to administer the United States participation in the Olympic games; the NRA dutifully managed and financially supported international and conventional shooting sports for over 100 years until the formation of USA Shooting. Gun shooting sports are shot with either firearms or air guns, which can be either handguns, rifles and/or shotguns. Handguns are handheld small arms designed to be shot off-hand without needing a shoulder stock; the two main subtypes of handguns are revolvers. They are much more convenient to carry in general, but have a shorter effective range and less accuracy compared to long guns such as rifles.
In shooting sports and semi-automatic pistols are the most used. A rifle is a long gun with a rifled barrel, requires the use of both hands to hold and brace against the shoulder via a stock in order to shoot steadily, they have a longer range and greater accuracy than handguns, are popular for hunting. In shooting sports, bolt action or semi-automatic rifles are the most used. A shotgun is similar to a rifle but smoothbore and larger in caliber, fires either a shell containing many smaller scattering sub-projectiles called shots, or a single large projectile called a slug. In shooting sports, shotguns are more over/under-type break action or semi-automatic shotguns, the majority of shotgun events are included in clay pigeon shooting. Bullseye shooting is a category of pistol and rifle shooting disciplines where the objective is to achieve as many points as possible by hitting a round shooting target as close to the middle as possible with slow precision fire; these disciplines place a large emphasis on precision and accuracy through sight picture and trigger control.
Fixed and long time limits give the competitors time to concentrate for a perfect shot. An example of bullseye shooting is the ISSF pistol and rifle disciplines, but there are many other national and interna
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics are leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating; the Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896; the IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in several changes to the Olympic Games; some of these adjustments include the creation of the Winter Olympic Games for snow and ice sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with a disability, the Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14 to 18, the five Continental games, the World Games for sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games.
The Deaflympics and Special Olympics are endorsed by the IOC. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic and technological advancements; the abuse of amateur rules by the Eastern Bloc nations prompted the IOC to shift away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship and commercialisation of the Games. World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games; the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, organises and funds the Games according to the Olympic Charter; the IOC determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
Over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals: gold and bronze, respectively; the Games have grown so much. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, bribery, a terrorist attack in 1972; every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to showcase themselves to the world; the Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Competition was among representatives of several kingdoms of Ancient Greece; these Games featured athletic but combat sports such as wrestling and the pankration and chariot racing events. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished.
This cessation of hostilities was known as truce. This idea is a modern myth; the truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus. The origin of the Olympics is shrouded in legend. According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years; the myth continues that after Heracles completed his twelve labours, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honour to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a "stadion", which became a unit of distance; the most accepted inception date for the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC. The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon, wrestling and equestrian events. Tradition has it that a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion; the Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honouring both Zeus and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia.
Pelops was famous for his chariot race with King Oenomaus of Pisatis. The winners of the events were immortalised in poems and statues; the Games were held every four years, this period, known as an Olympiad, was used by Greeks as one of their units of time measurement. The Games were part of a cycle known as the Panhellenic Games, which included the Pythian Games, the Nemean Games, the Isthmian Games; the Olympic Games reached their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Gr
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad known as Atlanta 1996, referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, United States. These Games, which were the fourth Summer Olympics to be hosted by the United States, marked the century of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens—the inaugural edition of the modern Olympic Games, they were the first since 1924 to be held in a different year from a Winter Olympics, under a new IOC practice implemented in 1994 to hold the Summer and Winter Games in alternating, even-numbered years. More than 10,000 athletes from 197 National Olympic Committees competed in 26 sports, including the Olympic debuts of beach volleyball, mountain biking, softball, as well as the new disciplines of lightwight rowing and women's football. 24 countries made their Summer Olympic debut in Atlanta, including eleven former Soviet republics participating for the first time as independent nations.
The hosting United States led the medal count with a total of 101 medals, the most gold and silver medals out of all countries. The U. S. topped the medal count for the first time since 1984, for the first time since 1968 in a non-boycotted Summer Olympics. Notable performances during competition included those of Andre Agassi—who became the first men's singles tennis player to combine a career Grand Slam with an Olympic gold medal, Donovan Bailey—who set a new world record of 9.84 for the men's 100 meters, Lilia Podkopayeva—who became the second gymnast to win an individual event gold after winning the all-round title in the same Olympics. The festivities were marred by violence on July 27, when Eric Rudolph detonated pipe bombs at Centennial Olympic Park—a downtown park, built to serve as a public focal point for the Games' festivities, injuring 111. In 2003, Rudolph confessed to the bombing and a series of related attacks on abortion centers and a gay bar, was sentenced to life in prison.
He claimed that the bombing was meant to protest the U. S. government's sanctioning of "abortion on demand". The Games turned a profit, helped by record revenue from sponsorship deals and broadcast rights, reliance on private funding, among other factors; the Games faced criticism for being overly commercialized, as well as other issues noted by European officials, such as the availability of food and transport. The event had a lasting impact on the city. Atlanta was selected on September 18, 1990, in Tokyo, over Athens, Manchester and Toronto at the 96th IOC Session; the city entered the competition as a dark horse. The US media criticized it as a second-tier city and complained of Georgia's Confederate history. However, the IOC Evaluation Commission ranked Atlanta's infrastructure and facilities the highest, while IOC members said that it could guarantee large television revenues similar to the success of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Additionally, former US ambassador to the UN and Atlanta mayor Andrew Jackson Young touted Atlanta's civil rights history and reputation for racial harmony.
Young wanted to showcase a reformed American South. The strong economy of Atlanta and improved race relations in the South helped to impress the IOC officials; the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games proposed a substantial revenue-sharing with the IOC, USOC, other NOCs. Atlanta's main rivals were Toronto, whose front-running bid that began in 1986 had chances to succeed after Canada had held a successful 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Melbourne, who hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics and after Brisbane, Australia's failed bid for the 1992 games and prior to Sydney, Australia's successful 2000 Summer Olympics bid; this would be Toronto's fourth failed attempt since 1960. Greece, the home of the ancient and first modern Olympics, was considered by many observers the "natural choice" for the Centennial Games. However, Athens bid chairman Spyros Metaxa demanded that it be named as the site of the Olympics because of its "historical right due to its history", which may have caused resentment among delegates.
Furthermore, the Athens bid was described as "arrogant and poorly prepared", being regarded as "not being up to the task of coping with the modern and risk-prone extravaganza" of the current Games. Athens faced numerous obstacles, including "political instability, potential security problems, air pollution, traffic congestion and the fact that it would have to spend about $3 billion to improve its infrastructure of airports, rail lines and other amenities"; the total cost of the 1996 Summer Olympics was estimated to be around $1.7 billion. The venues and the Games themselves were funded via private investment, the only public funding came from the U. S. government for security, around $500 million of public money used on physical public infrastructure including streetscaping, road improvements, Centennial Olympic Park, expansion of the airport, improvements in public transportation, redevelopment of public housing projects. $420 million worth of tickets wer
George Genereux
George Patrick Genereux was a Canadian Gold medal-winning trap shooter and physician. Genereux was born in Saskatoon, the son of Catherine Mary, a nurse, from Mount Carmel, Dr. Arthur George Genereux, he won the Gold medal in the Olympic Trap at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Finland. He was, at the time, Canada's youngest Olympic champion, a record that stood until 2016. In 1952, he was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy, he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame, the Trapshooting Hall of Fame. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan and studied medicine at McGill University, he died in Saskatoon on April 10, 1989. "George Genereux Athlete was Olympic medalist". The Globe and Mail. April 12, 1989. CBC Archives: Sharpshooter George Genereux grabs gold George Patrick Genereux at The Canadian Encyclopedia
United States at the 1912 Summer Olympics
The United States competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 174 competitors, took part in 68 events in 11 sports. Out of the 174 athletes who had participated, 63 won medals. Two divers, both men, represented the United States, it was the nation's third appearance in diving, appearing in each edition of the diving competition. Both men competed in all three events. Gaidzik, the defending bronze medalist in the springboard, advanced to the final in that event and placed eighth. Neither diver advanced to the final in either of the other two events. Rankings given are within the diver's heat. Seven swimmers competed for the United States at the 1912 Games, it was the nation's fifth appearance in swimming, a sport in which the United States had competed at each Olympic Games. The American men finished with two gold medals and the corresponding Olympic records, as well as a bronze medal, in individual events; the relay team added a silver medal, held the world record after winning its semifinal heat.
Ranks given for each swimmer are within the heat. Men 109 athletes represented the United States, it was the fifth appearance of the nation in athletics. The Americans won gold medals in 16 of the 30 events and finished with 42 of the 94 total medals awarded, they swept the medals in 4 events, as well as taking the top three spots in the pole vault. Ranks given are within that athlete's heat for running events. Nine cyclists represented the United States, it was the fourth appearance of the nation in cycling, which it had not appeared in only in 1896. The American cyclists won both bronze medals in the cycling competitions, with Carl Schutte taking third place in the individual competition and the fastest four Americans posting a combined time placing third in the team competition. DressageEventing Thirteen fencers represented the United States, it was the third appearance of the nation in fencing. No American fencer reached the finals; the United States had one competitor in the first Olympic pentathlon competition.
George S. Patton, who would become a famous general during World War II, excelled in the military-influenced set of events. Patton finished in fifth place. Twenty six shooters represented the United States, it was the nation's third appearance in shooting. The Americans won a total of 14 medals. Only the host nation, did better. A single tennis player represented the United States at the 1912 Games, it was the nation's third appearance in tennis. Pell advanced to the round of 16 before being defeated in the men's outdoor singles. Men The United States was represented by two wrestlers at its third Olympic wrestling appearance. Both men competed in the featherweight class and lost each of their first two bouts to be eliminated from competition
Gold
