Games of the XXVII Olympiad: A TimelineSeptember 17, 2014

September 24, 1993: At the 101st International Olympic Committee (OIC) Session in Monte Carlo, Sydney won over Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul, and Manchester the right to host the 2000 Summer Olympics.

August 10, 1994: The Sydney International Aquatic Centre, the venue for the aquatic and pentathlon events, was opened.

April 4, 1995: Bob Carr was elected New South Wales Premier. One of his first tasks was to come up with a master construction plan for the thirty sports venues for the Games.

February 21, 1995: Fifteen new venues began construction, expecting completion four years later.

September 23, 1998: The test events for the venues began.

March 6, 1999: The Olympic Stadium, where the track events were held, was completed.

September 15, 2000: The opening ceremony took place at Stadium Australia (a.k.a. Olympic Stadium). Cathy Freeman was the first competitor to light the Olympic cauldron.

September 16, 2000: The first set of medals were contested in the women's 10 metre air rifle competition. Nancy Johnson of the US won the gold.

September 16, 2000: Ian Thorpe set a new world record in the 400 meters freestryle finals. He anchored the Australian team in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay later.

September 17, 2000: Canada's Simon Whitfield was the inaugual winner of the men's triathlon.

September 18, 2000: Pieter van den Hoogenband won the men's 200 meter freestyle, finishing ahead of Thorpe by half a second.

September 20, 2000: Bill Kirby, Michael Klim, Todd Pearson, and Thorpe won the men's 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay. They beat the American team by almost six hundreds of a second, setting a new world record. This took place a few days after Klim, Chris Fydler, Ashley Callus, and Thorpe won the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay.

September 23, 2000: Steve Redgrave was a member of the winning British team in the men's coxless four. He became the first athlete to win in five consecutive Olympics.

September 23, 2000: The women's water polo was introduced in the Games. Australia defeated the US for the gold.

September 24, 2000: Rulon Gardener of the US beat Alexander Karelin of Russia in the finals of the super heavyweight class, Greco-Roman wrestling. It was a huge upset, as Gardener didn't win a medal in any international event while Karelin won the gold in Seoul, Barcelona, and Atlanta.

September 25, 2000: Freeman gave Australians something to cheer about, as she won the women's 400 meters final.

September 28, 2000: The Canadian flag was lowered to half-staff at the athletes' village to pay tribute to fomer prime minister Pierre Trudeau. He passed away on that day.

September 30, 2000: Cameroon beat Spain for the gold in men's football. The game went to a penalty shootout, which was won by the Africans 5-3.

October 1, 2000: The closing ceremony marked the closing of the Games. The US led the medal table with 32 golds and 93 medals overall.

October 18, 2000: The XI Paralympic Games, a multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities, opened.

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