Wheelchair racing at the Olympics Olympics, held earlier that year. Athletes who finished in the top three of these competitions did not have the performances included in the overall medal count. However, unofficial medals were awarded to the competitors nevertheless in 1984 by Juan Antonio Samaranch, the International Olympic Committee president. The events were dropped prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and multiple Paralympic gold medallist Chantal Petitclerc stated the decision was a major set-back for the sport, as she favoured its official integration as an Olympic sport. At the inaugural event in 1984 Sharon Hedrick broke the IPC world record to win the women's
Venues of the 2000 Summer Olympics ran from September 1998 to August 2000. Before the start of the women's marathon, street personnel in Sydney had to tow 137 cars that were parked along the course. Japan's Naoko Takahashi won the event. Canoe sprint events on the last day of the Games at the Regatta Centre were delayed for six hours by up to wind gusts. The Regatta Center also had lane markers that were damaged and an official's aluminum dinghy sinking. Eight days earlier, in the men's rowing coxless four final, Great Britain's Steve Redgrave won the gold medal in his fifth straight Olympics. The endurance