2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and commonly known as Sydney 2000 or the Millennium Olympic Games/Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event which was 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, and also the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1956.
Venues of the 2000 Summer Olympics
The Olympic Stadium, now known as ANZ Stadium, continues to be used as of 2017, though with a reduced capacity of 83,500. The stadium was re-configured after the games making it suitable for rectangular pitch and oval ground sports with the removal of the athletics track and the use of retractable seating. For sport, the stadium is used for regular season National Rugby League (NRL) games and the NRL Grand Final. It also hosts State of Origin home games for the NSW Blues, and Rugby Union test matches involving the Wallabies. In a deal that ran from 2009 until 2015, the stadium was also host to all home finals for the NSW Waratahs in the Super Rugby competition (the Waratah's normally play at the Sydney Football Stadium). It was also used for the Big Bash League Twenty20 cricket games as well as some games for the Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney Giants of the Australian Football League (AFL) until 2015. ANZ also plays host to various concerts.