Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics Australia was the host nation for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 628 competitors, 341 men and 276 women, took part in 270 events in 34 sports. Australia won its first Olympic gold medal in the sport of archery in Sydney. Simon Fairweather defeated all six archers he faced, including a comfortable seven-point victory in the final. Men Women The Australians' second appearance in the Olympic baseball tournament resulted in the team moving up one place in the rankings, from seventh to sixth. They defeated
Summer Olympic coins Summer Olympic coins Although the first Olympic coin can be traced back to 480 BC, the modern Olympics did not see its first commemoratives until 1951. The original concept of Olympic coins was that the Greeks believed that coins brought the general public closer to the Olympic games. The premise was that those who could not attend the games could at least have a tangible souvenir of the event. In 1951, the government of Finland authorized the striking of the first modern Olympic coin, a 500 Markkaa. At first, the coins circulated as currency in the issuing country and the