Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Dates 22 September – 1 October 2000
Medal Events 46
Non-medal Events 2

The Sydney Olympics was a sublime two weeks down under, and when IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch proclaimed them the greatest Games ever at the Closing Ceremony, few would disagree. But strangely, the track & field competition did not stand out in 2000. The big star of athletics probably occurred not in the stadium but on the roads. Polish walker Robert Korzeniowski defended his title in the 50 km. walk, and also won the 20 km. title, the first time that double has been achieved at the Olympics. Korzeniowski would return in 2004 to win the 50 km. for the third consecutive time. One noteworthy item concerned the women’s program. Women competed in the pole vault and hammer throw at Sydney, and with the 20 km. walk on the program now, women had almost an equal program to the men, lacking only a second walk event, and the steeplechase.

To the Australians, the star of the show was also a woman – Cathy Freeman. Freeman was of Aboriginal ancestry and Australia planned to make a show during the Sydney Olympics that they were now treating the original Australians well. Freeman was chosen to light the torch at the Opening Ceremony. She did so and then during the Olympics, won the 400 metres. She is the only Olympic athlete to have won a gold medal and lit the torch at the same Olympics.

Michael Johnson (USA) and Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) defended their titles in the 400 and 10K. A big upset occurred in the 1,500 when favored Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) finished second behind Kenyan Noah Ngeny. Jan Železný (CZE) won his third consecutive gold medal in the javelin, adding a silver from Seoul in 1988. Derartu Tulu (ETH) won the women’s 10K, which she had also won in 1992. On the field, Heike Drechsler-Daute won a second long jump gold medal, adding to the one she had from 1992.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
100 metres, Men Olympic 22 – 23 September 2000 97 71
200 metres, Men Olympic 27 – 28 September 2000 67 50
400 metres, Men Olympic 22 – 25 September 2000 68 44
800 metres, Men Olympic 23 – 27 September 2000 61 46
1,500 metres, Men Olympic 25 – 29 September 2000 41 26
5,000 metres, Men Olympic 27 – 30 September 2000 36 23
10,000 metres, Men Olympic 22 – 25 September 2000 34 19
Marathon, Men Olympic 1 October 2000 100 66
110 metres Hurdles, Men Olympic 24 – 25 September 2000 44 31
400 metres Hurdles, Men Olympic 24 – 27 September 2000 62 45
3,000 metres Steeplechase, Men Olympic 27 – 29 September 2000 40 29
4 x 100 metres Relay, Men Olympic 29 – 30 September 2000 168 40
4 x 400 metres Relay, Men Olympic 29 – 30 September 2000 152 34
20 kilometres Race Walk, Men Olympic 22 September 2000 47 28
50 kilometres Race Walk, Men Olympic 29 September 2000 56 28
High Jump, Men Olympic 22 – 24 September 2000 35 24
Pole Vault, Men Olympic 27 – 29 September 2000 36 22
Long Jump, Men Olympic 25 – 28 September 2000 53 38
Triple Jump, Men Olympic 23 – 25 September 2000 40 27
Shot Put, Men Olympic 22 September 2000 37 27
Discus Throw, Men Olympic 24 – 25 September 2000 45 28
Hammer Throw, Men Olympic 23 – 24 September 2000 44 24
Javelin Throw, Men Olympic 22 – 23 September 2000 36 26
Decathlon, Men Olympic 27 – 28 September 2000 38 23
100 metres, Women Olympic 22 – 23 September 2000 84 63
200 metres, Women Olympic 27 – 28 September 2000 51 35
400 metres, Women Olympic 22 – 25 September 2000 57 42
800 metres, Women Olympic 22 – 25 September 2000 38 30
1,500 metres, Women Olympic 27 – 30 September 2000 42 27
5,000 metres, Women Olympic 22 – 25 September 2000 49 32
10,000 metres, Women Olympic 27 – 30 September 2000 41 25
Marathon, Women Olympic 24 September 2000 53 36
100 metres Hurdles, Women Olympic 25 – 27 September 2000 38 26
400 metres Hurdles, Women Olympic 24 – 27 September 2000 33 21
4 x 100 metres Relay, Women Olympic 29 – 30 September 2000 108 25
4 x 400 metres Relay, Women Olympic 29 – 30 September 2000 93 21
20 kilometres Race Walk, Women Olympic 28 September 2000 57 31
High Jump, Women Olympic 28 – 30 September 2000 38 27
Pole Vault, Women Olympic 23 – 25 September 2000 30 20
Long Jump, Women Olympic 27 – 29 September 2000 39 25
Triple Jump, Women Olympic 22 – 24 September 2000 27 22
Shot Put, Women Olympic 27 – 28 September 2000 25 18
Discus Throw, Women Olympic 25 – 27 September 2000 32 20
Hammer Throw, Women Olympic 27 – 29 September 2000 28 20
Javelin Throw, Women Olympic 29 – 30 September 2000 35 27
Heptathlon, Women Olympic 23 – 24 September 2000 33 23
2137 (1257/880) 193 (191/171)

Non-medal events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
1,500 metres Wheelchair, Men Olympic (non-medal) 28 September 2000 8 7
800 metres Wheelchair, Women Olympic (non-medal) 28 September 2000 8 8
16 (8/8) 11 (7/8)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres, Men Maurice GreeneUSA Ato BoldonTTO Obadele ThompsonBAR
200 metres, Men Kostas KenterisGRE Darren CampbellGBR Ato BoldonTTO
400 metres, Men Michael JohnsonUSA Alvin HarrisonUSA Greg HaughtonJAM
800 metres, Men Nils SchumannGER Wilson KipketerDEN Djabir Saïd-GuerniALG
1,500 metres, Men Noah NgenyKEN Hicham El GuerroujMAR Bernard LagatKEN
5,000 metres, Men Million WoldeETH Ali Saïdi-SiefALG Brahim LahlafiMAR
10,000 metres, Men Haile GebrselassieETH Paul TergatKEN Assefa MezgebuETH
Marathon, Men Gezahegne AberaETH Eric WainainaKEN Tesfaye TolaETH
110 metres Hurdles, Men Anier GarcíaCUB Terrence TrammellUSA Mark CrearUSA
400 metres Hurdles, Men Angelo TaylorUSA Hadi Soua'an Al-SomailyKSA Llewellyn HerbertRSA
3,000 metres Steeplechase, Men Reuben KosgeiKEN Wilson Boit KipketerKEN Ali EzzineMAR
4 × 100 metres Relay, Men United StatesUSA BrazilBRA CubaCUB
4 × 400 metres Relay, Men NigeriaNGR JamaicaJAM The BahamasBAH
20 kilometres Race Walk, Men Robert KorzeniowskiPOL Noé HernándezMEX Vladimir AndreyevRUS
50 kilometres Race Walk, Men Robert KorzeniowskiPOL Aigars FadejevsLAT Joel SánchezMEX
High Jump, Men Sergey KlyuginRUS Javier SotomayorCUB Abderrahmane HammadALG
Pole Vault, Men Nick HysongUSA Lawrence JohnsonUSA Maksim TarasovRUS
Long Jump, Men Iván PedrosoCUB Jai TaurimaAUS Roman ShchurenkoUKR
Triple Jump, Men Jonathan EdwardsGBR Yoel GarcíaCUB Denis KapustinRUS
Shot Put, Men Arsi HarjuFIN Adam NelsonUSA John GodinaUSA
Discus Throw, Men Virgilijus AleknaLTU Lars RiedelGER Frantz KrugerRSA
Hammer Throw, Men Szymon ZiółkowskiPOL Nicola VizzoniITA Ihar AstapkovichBLR
Javelin Throw, Men Jan ŽeleznýCZE Steve BackleyGBR Sergey MakarovRUS
Decathlon, Men Erki NoolEST Roman ŠebrleCZE Chris HuffinsUSA
100 metres, Women Aikaterini Thanou
Tayna Lawrence
GRE
JAM
Merlene OtteyJAM
200 metres, Women Pauline Davis-ThompsonBAH Susanthika JayasingheSRI Beverly McDonaldJAM
400 metres, Women Cathy FreemanAUS Lorraine GrahamJAM Katharine MerryGBR
800 metres, Women Maria MutolaMOZ Steffi GrafAUT Kelly HolmesGBR
1,500 metres, Women Nouria Mérah-BenidaALG Violeta SzekelyROU Gabriela SzaboROU
5,000 metres, Women Gabriela SzaboROU Sonia O'SullivanIRL Gete WamiETH
10,000 metres, Women Derartu TuluETH Gete WamiETH Fernanda RibeiroPOR
Marathon, Women Naoko TakahashiJPN Lidia ȘimonROU Joyce ChepchumbaKEN
100 metres Hurdles, Women Olga ShishiginaKAZ Glory AlozieNGR Melissa MorrisonUSA
400 metres Hurdles, Women Irina PrivalovaRUS Deon HemmingsJAM Nezha BidouaneMAR
4 × 100 metres Relay, Women The BahamasBAH JamaicaJAM United StatesUSA
4 × 400 metres Relay, Women United StatesUSA JamaicaJAM Russian FederationRUS
20 kilometres Race Walk, Women Wang LipingCHN Kjersti Tysse-PlätzerNOR María VascóESP
High Jump, Women Yelena YelesinaRUS Hestrie Storbeck-CloeteRSA Oana Mușunoi-Pantelimon
Kajsa Bergqvist
ROU
SWE
Pole Vault, Women Stacy DragilaUSA Tatiana GrigorievaAUS Vala FlosadóttirISL
Long Jump, Women Heike DrechslerGER Fiona MayITA Tatyana KotovaRUS
Triple Jump, Women Tereza MarinovaBUL Tatyana LebedevaRUS Olena HovorovaUKR
Shot Put, Women Yanina KarolchykBLR Larisa PeleshenkoRUS Astrid KumbernussGER
Discus Throw, Women Elina ZveravaBLR Anastasia KelesidouGRE Iryna YatchankaBLR
Hammer Throw, Women Kamila SkolimowskaPOL Olga KuzenkovaRUS Kirsten MünchowGER
Javelin Throw, Women Trine HattestadNOR Mirela Maniani-TzeliliGRE Osleidys MenéndezCUB
Heptathlon, Women Denise LewisGBR Yelena ProkhorovaRUS Natasha SazanovichBLR

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 7 4 5 16
Ethiopia ETH 4 1 3 8
Poland POL 4 0 0 4
Russian Federation RUS 3 4 6 13
Kenya KEN 2 3 2 7
Cuba CUB 2 2 2 6
Great Britain GBR 2 2 2 6
Germany GER 2 1 2 5
Belarus BLR 2 0 3 5
The Bahamas BAH 2 0 1 3
Greece GRE 1 3 0 4
Romania ROU 1 2 2 5
Australia AUS 1 2 0 3
Algeria ALG 1 1 2 4
Czechia CZE 1 1 0 2
Nigeria NGR 1 1 0 2
Norway NOR 1 1 0 2
Bulgaria BUL 1 0 0 1
Estonia EST 1 0 0 1
Finland FIN 1 0 0 1
Japan JPN 1 0 0 1
Kazakhstan KAZ 1 0 0 1
Lithuania LTU 1 0 0 1
Mozambique MOZ 1 0 0 1
People's Republic of China CHN 1 0 0 1
Jamaica JAM 0 6 3 9
Italy ITA 0 2 0 2
Morocco MAR 0 1 3 4
South Africa RSA 0 1 2 3
Mexico MEX 0 1 1 2
Trinidad and Tobago TTO 0 1 1 2
Austria AUT 0 1 0 1
Brazil BRA 0 1 0 1
Denmark DEN 0 1 0 1
Ireland IRL 0 1 0 1
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia KSA 0 1 0 1
Latvia LAT 0 1 0 1
Sri Lanka SRI 0 1 0 1
Ukraine UKR 0 0 2 2
Barbados BAR 0 0 1 1
Iceland ISL 0 0 1 1
Portugal POR 0 0 1 1
Spain ESP 0 0 1 1
Sweden SWE 0 0 1 1