Sydney says goodbye

Paralympic farewell: fireworks light up Stadium Australia

The curtain has finally come down on Sydney's two-month sporting extravaganza, with the closing ceremony of the Paralympics.

International Paralympic Committee president Robert Steadward declared these the best Games ever, saying they had had been "an absolutely outstanding event".

"This unforgettable Australian experience must unfortunately come to a close," Steadward told the a sell-out crowd of 87,000 at the closing on Sunday.

"I hereby announce to you and the world that the 11th Paralympic Summer Games were the best ever," he added, drawing an enormous cheer.

"Thank you Australia for enhancing the profile of our athletes more than at any time in our history."

Imagination

The Paralympics opened on 18 October with a ceremony which captured the public's imagination just 17 days after the Sydney Olympics had closed at the same stadium.

Sydney, Australia's biggest city with a population of 4.5m, bought 1.2m tickets for the Games, a Paralympic record and more than double the sales for the Atlanta Paralympics.

I hereby announce to you and the world that the 11th Paralympic Summer Games were the best ever.

  IPC chairman Robert Steadward

To organisers' amazement, noisy crowds filled every seat at sports like wheelchair rugby and boccia where athletes throw leather balls at a jack.

The spirit of the Paralympics was on display from the start as Turkmenistan wheelchair athlete Atajan Begniyazov thrilled the opening ceremony crowd with several handstand walks.

However, his sport, powerlifting, was to soon plunge the Paralympics into controversy, as nine lifters from eight countries were each banned for four years after testing positive for banned substances.

As the Games ended, American sprinter Brian Frasure, was stripped of his 200m silver medal after testing positive for nandrolone.

Headache

Another headache for IPC officials was the flag handover to the Athens Paralympics Games organising committee for 2004.

Delays in Games preparations and the signing of the contract had left Steadward threatening to cancel the handover at the closing ceremony.

Michael Knight: "Sensational Paralympics"

But the threat was dropped and the deputy mayor of Athens, Nikos Yiatrakos, accepted the flag.

Steadward said he recognised Athens had "so many more serious problems" with the Olympics themselves and if the Olympics did not go well nor would the Paralympics.

Athletes in Sydney prospered from advanced training methods and high-tech equipment as they took another step forward in upgrading their public image from athletes with disabilities to elite sportspeople.

Four thousand competitors from 122 countries, plus two independent athletes from East Timor, contested 550 gold medals in 18 sports.

Australia's Olympics and Paralympics Minister Michael Knight said he had been determined to improve on the way the Atlanta Paralympics of 1996 had been organised.

"There's no question in my mind that we've run a sensational Paralympic Games," he said.

Knight will also have a hand in the next Olympics and Paralympics after his appointment by the IOC earlier this month to help oversee preparations for Athens 2004.