Stadium Australia - the Olympic Stadium

Here are some photos we took at Stadium Australia when we went to see the Athletics on 24th September 2000.

Here's a shot of one end of the stadium, including the high jump area and the Olympic flag on its flagpole.

And here's the other end of the stadium, showing the hammer throw circle and the javelin area. You can also see the three flagpoles that the countries' flags are hoisted on for the medal ceremonies.

Here's a photo which gives you some idea of the size of the stadium. Our seats were near the back of the upper tier and this photo was taken showing the full length of the upper tier on the one side.

Cathy Freeman is Australia's Golden Girl at the moment. Here's a photo of her lining up for her semi-final in the 400m. As you can see, by this point the rain had started.

Talking of great athletes, here's a shot of Michael Johnson coasting across the finish line in second place in his 400m semi-final.

Steve Backley of Great Britain won the silver medal in the javelin. We didn't see him competing but we did see him receiving his medal. In the photo you can see the scoreboard with his name on it, and you should be just about able to make out the dais towards the bottom right.

As mentioned previously, this was the night the rain came down, and here's a shot showing how wet the track became. Just to show it does rain in Sydney!

Here are some other photos we took outside the stadium when we went to the Athletics session on Friday 29th September 2000.

Here's a photo of the outside of Stadium Australia taken as you approach it from Olympic Park station. On the righthand side you can just see the cauldron, but not the flame. You can also see some of the thousands of people who were milling around.

This photo was taken looking down Olympic Boulevard past Stadium Australia. The intention was to give some impression of the number of people around, but it doesn't quite work.