|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Festivities return Opening ceremonies get Paralympics under way
Updated: Wednesday October 18, 2000 6:49 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Rain that threatened to spoil the celebrations evaporated Wednesday just in time to allow Sydney to produce another full-scale festival to open the 11th Paralympic Summer Games. The biggest ever Paralympics picked up where the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the biggest of the modern era, finished just 17 days before -- in a vibrant spectacle of fireworks, dancing, music and Aussie icons. Inflatable blow flies, fish, a giant serpent and floating pink sharks drifted around the stadium as pop singer Kylie Minogue concluded the opening ceremony with a jazzed-up version of "Waltzing Matilda," Australia's unofficial anthem. Thousands of glowing flashlights inside the stadium compensated for the absence of the Southern Cross, the constellation that has guided Australians home for two centuries, which was hidden behind overcast skies. Gray clouds hung menacingly over the harbor city all day and weather forecasters predicted heavy rain during the evening but, in keeping with an old Aussie adage: it never rained on the parade. More than 5,500 performers happily remained dry while the ceremony was beamed to more than one billion television viewers around the globe. Another spectacular Sydney party was already in full swing by the time Australia's governor general Sir William Deane declared the games open and Paralympic swimmer Tracey Cross read the oath. In his opening address, International Paralympic Committee president Robert Steadward paid tribute to the unparalleled success of the games of the Sept. 15-Oct. 1 Olympics and then promised more of the same. "The way has been paved for our Paralympians to make their mark on sporting history," Steadward said. About 4,000 athletes from 121 nations either walked or rolled their wheelchairs onto the running track at Stadium Australia, surpassing the attendance of 103 nations at Atlanta four years ago. Some spun their wheelchairs around in 360-degree wheelies and others performed handstands and somersaults up the main straight, raising thunderous applause from an almost capacity crowd at the 110,000 seat venue. "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie: Oi, Oi, Oi!!" -- the now universally recognized chorus of Australian sports fans -- rang out as the teams filed onto the track. But the loudest cheers were reserved for the 400-plus contingent of Australian officials and athletes, some with the national flag painted on their faces, who entered last of all. From the middle of the arena, wheelchair athlete Louise Savage ignited a mini cauldron that emerged from under a raised platform. Savage, holder of seven Paralympic gold medals and a three-time winner of the Boston Marathon, was the last of six torchbearers to carry the Paralympic flame inside the main stadium. She lit the mini cauldron, which grew with a flame-throwing effect and triggered a relay of flames that swept up to the cauldron at the northern end of the stadium -- the same cauldron that held the Olympic flame. Continuing a theme of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, the ceremony commenced with a welcome by Rod Towney, chairman of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, on behalf of the traditional owners. Aboriginal band Yothu Yindi performed its signature song "Treaty" on a stage in front of images of Australia's red center beamed onto a 70-meter (feet) long video screen. Earlier, stadium staff worked feverishly to drain pools of water from the arena floor and off fiber-cement platforms that had to be coated and re-coated with paint during the ceremony. About 1,300 school children splashed paint over the 304 platforms, initially to form a backdrop for an aboriginal logo and then to create an aerial map of Ausralia in the middle of the field. International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who satisfied Sydneysiders with his "best ever" rating of the 2000 Summer Games, returned as a guest of the International Paralympic Committee. Competition in five of the 18 sports starts Thursday, with seven gold medals up for grabs on the first day.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
