Before the 4 x 100m men’s relay final, US swimmer Gary Hall Jnr boasted that his team would smash Australia “like guitars”. He also smashed the 400 m freestyle with a time of 3.40.59, earning a world record at the age of 17 and the nickname Thorpedo.ĭuring the games, competition with the United States amped up both in and outside of the pool. In 2000, Ian Thorpe won three gold and two silver medals, the highest achiever of any Olympian at the games. Australia’s stunning swimsĪlthough swimming is one of Australia’s strongest sports, our Olympic swimmers went the extra mile at Sydney to win 18 medals. The cauldron then rose to the top of the stadium, although infamously a technical snag – one of the few of the games – left it suspended in mid-air for a few minutes. The iconic image of the Opening Ceremony belongs, however, to Cathy Freeman when she lit the Olympic cauldron, climbing floating stairs as a wall of water parted before her. During the parade of nations, North and South Korea marched under a unified flag, a historic first for the games. One moment that wowed amongst the wonder was an understated show of Olympic spirit. Other highlights include “the Awakening” – a dance spanning Indigenous history and the Dreaming that featured over 2500 Indigenous performers – and the Tin Symphony, a number that memorably ended with an eclectic parade of suburban lawn mowers that formed the Olympic Rings. The festival began with a tribute to Banjo Paterson, featuring 120 Driza-bone wearing stock men riding horses across the Olympic stadium. The four-hour spectacle saw 12,687 people perform and parade in a journey through Australia’s history and landscape, followed a then 13-year-old Nikki Webster. The Opening Ceremonyīoth a celebration of Australian culture and a warm welcome to our country, Sydney’s Opening Ceremony is summed up best by artist Ken Done’s banner that greeted the world with one word “G’day”. While one of the Olympic’s slowest swimmers, the spirit in the room was of celebration as Eric’s efforts broke the national Equatorial Guinea record, cheered on by both the crowds and fellow Olympians alike.Įric is now the coach of the national Equatorial Guinea swimming team. Eric finished at a time of 1 minute 52.72 seconds, more than a minute after Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband’s winning time of 48.64 seconds. He began swimming eight months prior to the games, practicing in a 12m swimming pool.Ĭompeting against swimmers in aerodynamic body suits in the Sydney heats, Eric swam in budgie smugglers. Before the Sydney Olympics, Eric Moussambani had never swam in an Olympic-sized pool.Ī wildcard entry, ‘Eric the Eel’ – his nickname in the press – competed in the 100m freestyle event representing the small Central African country of Equatorial Guinea.
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