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1 OLYMPIC STADIUM
The Olympic Stadium is the largest outdoor venue in Olympic history. The stadium, which will hold the opening and closing ceremonies (15 September and 1 October respectively), the athletic events and the football final, holds 110,000 people. It has already witnessed world-record crowds for rugby union internationals. In all, its cost is estimated at around Aus$690m. After the conclusion of the Olympics, the two temporary open grandstands will be removed, leaving two permanent grandstands, and the capacity will be reduced to 80,000. While the stadium will host the final of the football, the preliminary rounds will be held at the Sydney Football Stadium (cap: 42,000), Melbourne Cricket Ground (cap 98,000), Brisbane Cricket Ground (cap: 37,000) and the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide (cap: 20,000). 1 OLYMPIC STADIUM
The Olympic Stadium is the largest outdoor venue in Olympic history. The stadium, which will hold the opening and closing ceremonies (15 September and 1 October respectively), the athletic events and the football final, holds 110,000 people. It has already witnessed world-record crowds for rugby union internationals. In all, its cost is estimated at around Aus$690m. After the conclusion of the Olympics, the two temporary open grandstands will be removed, leaving two permanent grandstands, and the capacity will be reduced to 80,000. While the stadium will host the final of the football, the preliminary rounds will be held at the Sydney Football Stadium (cap: 42,000), Melbourne Cricket Ground (cap 98,000), Brisbane Cricket Ground (cap: 37,000) and the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide (cap: 20,000). 2 SYDNEY SUPERDOME
The SuperDome, the first structure of its type to be built in Australia, has been built in the Sydney Olympic Park. The fully roofed venue will be the home of the basketball and gymnastics events. The capacity for the former is 18,000 and 15,000 for the latter. Spectators are guaranteed they will not miss a moment of the action as four video screens and scoreboards will replay much of what takes place. In keeping with the ecologically friendly theme of the Games, the whole building runs on solar power. 3 AQUATIC CENTRE
The President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, once described the pool at the aquatic centre as the best he had seen in his life. The centre will play host to the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, the water polo finals and the swimming leg of the modern pentathlon. The arena holds 17,500 people, while the pool has 10 lanes and is 50 metres long. 4 BASEBALL STADIUM
When it opened in 1998, this 20,000-seater stadium was the first Baseball venue of any note Australia had ever possessed, indicating their growing interest in the sport. When not in use its main role is as a showground for cattle during the Royal Easter Show. 5 STATE SPORTS CENTRE
Built in 1984 on the site of an old abattoir, this venue will be the home of the table tennis and tae-kwon-do events, with room for 5000 spectators. Part of the complex is the State Hockey Centre (cap: 15,000), reckoned to be one of the finest hockey venues in the world. The pitch has been resurfaced for the 2000 Games. 6 TENNIS CENTRE
The designers of the new No. 1 court at Wimbledon are behind the design of the tennis venue. It features a 10,000 seat centre court, two show courts that can hold 4000 and 2000 people respectively and seven match courts that can take up to 200 people. All the court surfaces are made of a substance called Rebound Ace cushioned acrylic - the same surface upon which the Australian Open is held. 7 DOMES AND PAVILIONS
Usually the dome and the pavilions, situated in the Olympic Park, play host to exhibitions, including an annual event every Easter featuring sculptures made from fresh fruit and vegetables. For the Olympics, however, it will feature more dynamic events, including badminton, basketball, handball, the shooting and fencing in the modern pentathlon, rhythmic gymnastics and some volleyball matches. The whole venue is equivalent in size to three football pitches, though the dome will be split into four separate venues for the Games, each holding 10,000, while the pavilions have a capacity of 6,000 each. |
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