the sydney 2000 olympic and paralympic games - Australian Sports ...

PART FOUR : NSW GOVERNMENT AGENCIES GAMES SUPPORT SERVICES
4.8 Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee
The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games were held during the period 18 October to 29 October 2000. The
Paralympic Games is the second largest multi sport event in the world, second only to the Olympic Games
in terms of participants and numbers of nations competing.
The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games were a resounding success. Ticket sales broke all previous Games
records, with 1.2 million tickets sold. This included the attendance by 340,000 schoolchildren, the largest
ever school excursion in Australia.
The Sydney Paralympic Games received unprecedented media coverage and hosted the largest ever
number of athletes and delegations.
The cost to the NSW Government of the Paralympic Games was $19.6 million. The NSW Government
provided funding assistance of $35.0 million to the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC) to
host the Games and $15.4 million was returned by SPOC after the Games were completed. The NSW
Government also had responsibility for providing support services in areas such as health, transport,
security and infrastructure.
SPOC raised total income of $114.6 million. The major components of this income were $46.0 million from
sponsorship, $25.1 million from ticket sales and a $17.9 million financial contribution from SOCOG.
Total expenditure for SPOC to plan, organise and stage the Games was $155.6 million.
One of the keys to the successful delivery of the Sydney Paralympic Games was the operational
integration of SOCOG, SPOC and the various Government support agencies particularly OCA, to produce
a 60-day sporting festival covering the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Areas directly integrated with
SOCOG included venue operations, workforce planning, villages, sports competition, technology, press
operations, ticketing, catering, accommodation, accreditation and logistics. These operational services
were charged by SOCOG to SPOC on an incremental cost basis.
The Paralympic sporting program contained 18 sports. Paralympic events included archery, athletics,
wheelchair basketball, judo, swimming and wheelchair rugby. Fourteen out of the 18 sports were
conducted at Sydney Olympic Park.
Sydney Paralympic Games Objectives
The International Paralympic Committee awarded Sydney the XI Paralympic Games soon after Sydney
won the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The NSW Government incorporated SPOC to administer and
manage the Games.
The key functions of SPOC were to:
• Organise and stage the Paralympic Games in accordance with the Host City Contract.
• Organise the sports program, including preparation and operation of venues and facilities.
• Organise accommodation for athletes, team officials and official personnel.
• Promote the Paralympic movement and athletes with a disability.
• Raise money to fund Paralympic operations.
• Organise a Paralympic Arts Festival.
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