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.
2000 Summer Olympics cauldron
On 10 May 2000 in Olympia, Greece, the 2000 Summer Olympics torch relay was commenced with a flame which would be carried by various means of transport across the world to Australia. In Australia the torch followed a circuitous 27,000 km journey around the country visiting many towns and communities, starting in Uluru and ending in Sydney. the Torch relay ceremony became characterised by "a blend of pride, enjoyment, wonder and bonding - a reinforced sense of national identity" (Gordon, 2003, p144).