2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday, 15 September 2000 in Stadium Australia, Sydney, during which the Games were formally opened by then-Governor-General Sir William Deane. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's culture and history. Veteran ceremonies director Ric Birch was the Director of Ceremonies while David Atkins was the Artistic Director and Producer. Its artistic section highlighted several aspects of Australian culture and history, showing Australia's flora and fauna, technology, multiculturalism, and the hopeful moment of reconciliation towards Aboriginal Australians. The ceremony had a cast of 12,687 performers, seen by a stadium audience of around 110,000.
Athletes leaving the stadium at the end of the ceremony | |
| Date | 15 September 2000 |
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| Time | 19:00 – 23:19 AEDT (UTC+11) |
| Venue | Stadium Australia |
| Location | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°50′50″S 151°03′48″E |
| Filmed by | Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (SOBO) |
| Footage | Sydney 2000 Opening Ceremony – Full Length on YouTube |
The ceremony began at 19:00 AEDT and lasted over four-and-a-half hours. Around 3.7 billion viewers worldwide watched the ceremony on TV.
The ceremony was described by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch as the most beautiful ceremony the world had ever seen. Consistent with normal major production management, the music was pre-recorded under studio conditions to ensure its quality.
The stadium's French-language announcer was Pascale Ledeur, while the English-language announcer was Australian actor John Stanton.
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| 2000 Summer Olympics |
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