Sydney 2000 Olympic Games - Athletics (Part 2)

DAY 13

I was free for the morning session, so I followed progress in the Men's Decathlon.

Here's me near the 100m start line during the lunch break.

In the Evening session I was Bar Judge for the Men's Decathlon Pole Vault (Group A). Bar Judge involves replacing the crossbar, adjusting the uprights, and catching the athlete's pole after he jumps. Again, the warm-up and competition went smoothly. Group A was for the better pole vaulters, and included Erki Nool (EST), Mike Maczey (GER), Frank Buseman (GER), Tomas Dvorak (CZE), Eduard Hamalainen (FIN) and Tom Pappas (USA). Over in Group B, Klaus Ambrosch (AUT) provided the entertainment when he stalled out and landed on his backside in the box. (Klaus visited Oz earlier in the year.)

The pole vault started at 3.30 pm and was finished in a couple of hours. I therefore had time to enjoy the rest of the events that evening.

This is pole vaulter, Martin Eriksson (SWE), shortly after catching the action in the Decathlon Pole Vault. Martin jumped 5.55m in Qualification and did not advance to the Final. The guy with the "deer in the headlights" look is Martin's coach, Lech Nikitin.

As expected, Marion Jones (USA) romped home in the Women's 200m Final. Here she is on her victory lap.

Nick, Steve Rippon and Dave T-Shirt playing their part in support of the Great Britain team. (Steve gave me the British team shirt and shorts).

Nick shows his true colours. The stadium was so full of Australian supporters I decide to give my support to the "opposition".

The Men's Long Jump Final was also on that evening. What a terrific competition. Peter Burge (AUS) and Jai Taurima (AUS) were flying, and Jai almost stole the gold medal from Ivan Pedroso (CUB).

Here is Erki Nool (Estonia) on his Decathlon victory lap. Erki was very lucky to survive the Discus Throw, where it looked as though he had 3 fouls. Not so lucky was Dean Macey (GBR), who was just tipped out for the bronze medal by Chris Huffins (USA).

DAY 14

Another glorious day, another free session. I spent some time in the Media Zone watching the athletes being interviewed after their races.

View from the Media Zone: Disaster strikes the Australian Women's 4x100m team! They didn't even make it out of the Heats. The photo shows Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Ely Hutton, Lauren Hewitt, and Sharon Cripps as they exit the track after a botched first handover between Hutton and Hewitt.

This is the view from the entrance to the Officials Lounge, in the upper level corporate box of the south-east end of the stadium. We could sit, relax, and watch all the action on the track. We even had TV monitors that could be switched to show the view from any of the TV cameras in the stadium.

Evening session.  Men's Pole Vault Final.

I was on Athlete Control (organising bar height and upright settings during warm-up, organising the athletes for introduction to the crowd, organising the athletes during the competition, changing the indicator board, and keeping an eye on the athletes). At the end of the competition I escorted the medallists from the Competition Area, around the track, and through the Media Zone to Post-Event Control. Okkert Brits (RSA) left his track suit pants at the competition site. They would have made a good souvenir, but they were way to large for me (Okky is 1.95m tall) so I decided to return them. (The South African track suit is ugly.)

Here are some photo sequences of the medalists. These photos were taken by Herbert Czingnon. His pole vaultwebsite has an amazing array of pole vault photos and videos.

Nick Hysong (USA)

Lawrence Johnson (USA)

Max Tarasov (RUS)

Lawrence Johnson and Nick Hysong celebrate a 1-2 finish for the USA.

Stacy Dragila (USA) shows off her gold medal. Brent looking disinterested with yet another person asking for Stacy's photo. I think he's used to it by now. After my officiating duties were over I always quickly got changed and rushed into the stands to watch the other events and to meet my friends. This photo was taken just after the finish of Men's Pole Vault Final.

Nick, Steve Rippon, and Dave T-Shirt, just after the Men's Pole Vault Final.

Day 15

There was no Athletics in the morning session.

For the evening session I was in the Call Room, so I didn't get to see any of the Relays. I sat at a desk at the exit from the Warm-Up Track. My job was to check that managers submitted their list of athletes on time, and to check that the relay runners were eligible to compete in the Final. I got to meet the team managers, some of whom were ex-athletes (and often surprised that I recognised them). The USA manager was Fred Newhouse, who won a gold medal in the 4x400m Relay at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, and the Nigerian manager was Innocent Egbunike, who was 5th in the 400m at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, and 2nd at the 1987 Rome World Championships.

This is the Athlete Tunnel that runs from the Warm-Up Track to the Olympic Stadium. The photo shows the exit from the tunnel as you go into the ring road beneath the Stadium.

Day 16

Steve Moneghetti acknowledges the crowd at the end of his last marathon. He finished 10th.

Closing Ceremony

The vertical jumps (pole vault) crew. Back row: Jim Minehan (Referee), Collen McEwan, Lesley Jesser, Mike Hunter, Alan Evans. Front Row: Peter Hannan, Nick Linthorne, Richard Lawysz, Simon Ware. This photo was taken just before the closing ceremony. Notice the "eskies" on the seats.

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