Current Kookaburras recall Sydney 2000 memories

Most of them were in primary school at the time but some of the current Kookaburras crop have recalled what they could remember 20 years on from the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

As part of the 20 year anniversary of #Sydney2000 the Australian Olympic Committee have created a social media campaign to celebrate the Games.

#MySydney2000 is about people sharing their personal memories of Sydney 2000.

Follow @AUSOlympicTeam and the #MySydney2000 hashtag to celebrate other people’s memories throughout the Sydney 2000 anniversary. Click here to find out how to get involved.

Current Kookaburras memories of Sydney 2000
Daniel Beale (7 years of age during the 2000 Olympics)
“I remember watching the Olympics at home, but I was a lot more interested in playing sport than watching it. My two memories of Sydney were Cathy Freeman winning the 400 metres and Grant Hackett swimming in the 1500 metres. They’re the two events I vividly remember watching and thinking, ‘this is awesome’.”

Josh Beltz (5 years of age during the 2000 Olympics)
“The only thing I really remember were the mascots. Was Millie the echidna? I can remember those pretty fondly but that’s about it.”

Tom Craig (5 years of age during the 2000 Olympics - pictured above)
“I remember watching it on TV more than I can remember being there. I remember going to watch the Paralympics. I remember watching goalball and it blowing my mind – it is an incredible sport. I remember going to watch the wheelchair rugby and the athletics. Living in Sydney, it was such a buzz.”

Matt Dawson (6 years of age during the 2000 Olympics)
“I’m not sure if I went to watch any hockey. I can’t remember a whole lot which is a bit sad because of how exciting it was at the time. I just know it was an amazing time for sport in New South Wales and Australia.”

Johan Durst (9 years of age during the 2000 Olympics)
“We were living in Manly at the time and we went to some athletics and the indoor volleyball. We also went to have a look at the kayaking. I remember jumping on the train with the family and heading out to Sydney Olympic Park and getting out the station and seeing thousands of people all dressed up – it was great.”

Tyler Lovell (13 years of age during the 2000 Olympics)
“I remember Cathy Freeman winning and how devastating it was watching Jane Saville get disqualified in the walk. The other thing I remember was the Thorpedo (Ian Thorpe) domination of the pool.”

Eddie Ockenden (13 years of age during the 2000 Olympics)
“It was probably the first Olympics I got to watch that was in a good time zone where there was sport on all day. I also remember watching Roy & HG at night…and apart from all of the big Australian events that everyone watched, I remember watching the Hockeyroos win gold and the Kookaburras win bronze. I watched a lot of hockey which was really cool because back then there was no hockey on TV, so it was one of the only times you could watch it.”

Matt Swann (11 years of age during the 2000 Olympics)
“I think I was on school holidays so my sister and I literally just watched the entire Olympics. We pretty much woke up and sat in front of the TV all day for the entire two weeks. The most memorable moment that sticks in my mind was Cathy Freeman winning gold and also Ian Thorpe dominating in the pool.”

Aran Zalewski (9 years of age during the 2000 Olympics)
“We were living in Sydney when the Games were on so I remember going to quite a few of the hockey games. I remember it being really hot and eating heaps of Calippo ice blocks while I was watching. I can also remember Brent Livermore hitting the post in the semi final which the Kookaburras lost.”