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Sydney's seven-minute part in the closing ceremony at the 1996 Atlanta Games
also featured Aborigines playing didgeridoos. The official Sydney 2000 logo has
incorporated a boomerang into its design as well as the torch having the design
of it. The first year of the "Cultural Olympiad" was dedicated to indigenous culture.
Other symbolic actions were the start of the torch relay at Uluru, an indigenous
Olympic gold medallist being the first torchbearer in Australia, Cathy Freeman
lighting the Olympic Flame, the allowance of a 700 sq. metre indigenous Arts
and Cultural Pavilion at Homebush Bay or the Aboriginal flag on top of the
Town Hall or inside the Olympic Village. These have been a contribution to the
development of Australians' psyche of tolerance and inclusion (Hanna 1999: 15;
Greiner 2000: 2).
One reason to incorporate Aborigines in the Games was certainly to show
the history and specific culture of Australia, especially since the multicultural
society has a lack of united history. Another reason was probably that the
incorporation of the indigenous made it unlikely that the Games would be
disrupted in any significant way by protest (Hanna 1999: 58).
Besides SOCOG's use of Aboriginal images and traditions as an important part
of Australia's history, the indigenous people themselves took action. They created
the "Sea of Hands" in Centennial Park and erected a tent village in Victoria Park.
After Freeman won the 400 metres run she demonstrated reconciliation by waving
an Australian and Aboriginal flag. The Sydney 2000 Olympiad has given new
relevancy of indigenous reconciliation and perceptions of Aboriginals in the
future. It is also too early to see the entire impact, but the increasing number
of "reconciliation marches" (e.g. 400,000 in Melbourne in December 2000) shows
the strengthened national movement of understanding Aboriginals. The
"Newspoll-Study" (December 2000) confirmed that 81% feel it is important to reconcile
indigenous and white Australians (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker 2/2001).
The Games put the Aboriginals in the world-wide press (Gesellschaft für bedrohte
Völker 6.10.2000) and might provide international support for their fight to reach
fairness and equity among all Australians. The initiation of a national movement of
understanding was smarter than trying to get recognition by boycotting the
Games, which was considered in 1997 by the Canadian Olympians and the British
parliamentary committee (Hanna 1999: 60). All actions went along without any
crime, which would probably have annoyed white Australians by spoiling their
pride of staging the biggest world peacetime event.
The organisers of the Paralympics had to overcome a number of barriers
to achieve public acceptance of disabled sports. The public had only a vague
idea of what constitutes Paralympic sport (Hughes 1999: 171). Alliances had
been formed with sponsors, service clubs, seniors, ethnic groups and local
communities. These partnerships resulted in a strong awareness campaign that has
helped the understanding of the abilities of people with disabilities (McCrone
2000, 4). Both the construction of handicapped-adopted sports facilities and the
success of the Paralympics in terms of the number of visitors had most probably
a positive impact on the acceptance of handicapped people and their ability
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