Oceania

[Visited: November 2000]

The Summer Olympic Games are a spectacle watched worldwide, every four years. They probably constitute one of the most universal concepts. And although the spectacle only takes around two weeks, they always leave a legacy in the form of accomodation and stadiums. The Sydney 2000 games were considered to be the best ever, and therefore the Olympic Village deserved a visit.
A train takes you from downtown Sydney to the Olympic area. Getting out of the train you already hear a background music which accompanies the visitor almost wherever you go. Everywhere you look, you see new impressive buildings, monuments to past Games, and space in between. The stadium itself certainly deserves a visit. A huge monument to sports, it can hold over 110,000 spectators and is very nicely designed. Walking into the arena from below you can, with some fantasy, try to imagine how it must feel for an athlete to enter a fully packed stadium and to perform what he has trained for so much, so many years.
Since the Australians considered that they would never again draw huge crowds for athletic competitions, they built the stadium in such a way that it could be adjusted to their needs. So, they are now starting to remove the athletic track and move the galleries inside, so the audience will be closer to the grass where field sports will be played. A truly magnificent building, and a truly magnificent Olympic Village.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Sydney Olympic Stadium (Australia). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Sydney Olympic Stadium.
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