Sydney’s Olympic Cauldron reignited

Twenty years after Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron at the 2000 opening ceremony, Sydney’s Olympic flame has been reignited.

The Sydney Olympic cauldron burns again on te 20th anniversary of the Games Picture. Phil Hillyard

Twenty years after Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron at the 2000 opening ceremony, Sydney’s Olympic flame has been reignited.

On the 20th anniversary of the “greatest Games ever”, the Australian Olympic Committee re-created the iconic moment on Tuesday morning at Sydney Olympic Park.

Friendly Akubra-wearing volunteers ushered the small crowd that included Australian Olympic and Paralympic legends Ian Thorpe and Louise Sauvage.

Syd, Millie and Ollie were present too.

Gold medallist Cathy Freeman, however, was unable to attend the event due to COVID restrictions in Melbourne.

Instead, Paralympian Tamsin Colley and Indigenous basketballer Tenayah Logan re-lit the cauldron, as Freeman reflected on the iconic moment in a video message.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 15: Tamsin Colley and Tenayah Logan pose after the relighting of the Olympic cauldron during a ceremony to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, at Sydney Olympic Park on September 15, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“When Coatsey (AOC President John Coates) asked me to do the honours, I was really taken aback. There were a few other people who I thought were so deserving of the honour,” Freeman said.

“At the time, I was also being more concerned with my body’s health and making sure I was getting enough rest.

“It wasn’t until I got to Sydney, in those days before the Opening Ceremony that I started to think, OK, I have to be in this moment.

“I am very proud of the fact that when I lit the cauldron all those years ago it was a symbol of hope for all young Australians. It is at times like this that I simply reflect and I wonder at the power of sport and the difference that sport can make in our lives.”

Thorpe recalled watching the opening ceremony on television, while he stayed home to prepare for the 400m freestyle heats scheduled on day 1 of the Games.

“It’s amazing that 20 years have passed, for people to have the chance to reminisce at a time when, it was a great time for Sydney and the country, when everyone was celebrating what had been a long build up to the games,” Thorpe said.

“It was a really healthy distraction watching the opening ceremony on TV for me, I wasn’t thinking about what I had to do the next day.”

The Sydney Olympic cauldron was relit by young athletes of the future Tamsin Colley (Paralympian-Athletics) and Tenayah Logan (Basketball) with former Olympians Louise Savage and Ian Thorpe at the Australian Olympic Committee's ceremony marking the 20 year anniversary of the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games at Cathy Freeman Park in Sydney. Picture. Phil Hillyard

The five-time Olympic gold medallist said he feels for athletes dealing with the postponement of Tokyo2020 and hopes the games will go ahead next year.

“If we haven’t got a treatment or vaccine for COVID, the Olympics possibly will not go ahead,” Thorpe said.

“For some athletes they are loving that they have an extra year to train, for other athletes they’re at the end of their careers or they may not be able to afford to hold out for another year,

“I want to see the Olympics go ahead next year, I hope we get to a stage around the world where it kind of becomes the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Sauvage has won nine Paralympic gold medals, but still counts lighting the cauldron at Sydney’s Paralympics as one of her greatest achievements.

“I’m always going to be extremely biased about Sydney, thinking it was the best Games ever … it really turned the Paralympics Games around,” Savage said.

“Just the way it was embraced throughout Sydney and Australia was probably my biggest memory.”