Malawi at the 2000 Summer Olympics Malawi at the 2000 Summer Olympics Malawi competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The country's participation marked its sixth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1972 Games. The delegation included two track and field athletes: Francis Munthali in the men's 1500 metres and Catherine Chikwakwa in the women's 5000 metres. Both athletes participated at the Games through wild card places since they did not meet the required standards to qualify. Neither athletes progressed past their heats. Malawi participated in six Summer Olympic games between its début at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich,
Olympic Games in the opening ceremony. Though the flame has been an Olympic symbol since 1928, the torch relay was only introduced at the 1936 Summer Games to promote the Third Reich. The Olympic mascot, an animal or human figure representing the cultural heritage of the host country, was introduced in 1968. It has played an important part of the Games' identity promotion since the 1980 Summer Olympics, when the Russian bear cub Misha reached international stardom. The mascot of the Summer Olympics in London was named Wenlock after the town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire. Much Wenlock still hosts the Wenlock