The following are given passages.
Passage 1:
Sven Nys
Sven Nys (Dutch: [ˌsfɛˈnɛis]; born 17 June 1976) is a former professional cyclist competing in cyclo-cross and mountain bike. With two world championships, seven world cups, and over 140 competitive victories, he is considered one of the best cyclo-cross racers of his generation, and remains a prominent figure in cyclo-cross. Apart from cyclo-cross, Nys is also fivefold national mountainbike champion, and has competed in that discipline in two Olympic games.

Career overview
Early years
Born in Bonheiden, Belgium, Nys began racing BMX at the age of 8. He won eight BMX national titles before switching to cyclocross, a more popular sport in Belgium. He won the under-23 world championship in 1997 and 1998, beating another Belgian, Bart Wellens. Nys moved to the elite category in 1998–1999, joining the Dutch Rabobank team.

Becoming elite
In the elite class he won the Superprestige competition and came third in the national championships. The next season, he won the Superprestige again, ended the World Cup as leader and became Belgian champion. This made him favourite for the 2000 world championship. But his Rabobank management told him not to beat his teammate, the Dutchman Richard Groenendaal. Groenendaal sprinted away from the start and Nys was forced to hold back and not help another Belgian, Mario De Clercq, chase him. Groenendaal won and Nys, who came third, was criticised in Belgium for choosing team over country. The Royal Belgian Cycling League demanded an explanation. It became more forgiving but the head coach, Erik De Vlaeminck, remained unconvinced.Nys blamed an injury for not winning a season-long competition or championship in 2000–2001. A year later he won the World Cup and the Superprestige again. In the world championships that year he came third after being outsprinted by De Clercq and Tom Vannoppen. The following season Nys won the Superprestige for the fourth time as well as the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy for a first time. He became Belgian champion again, but Wellens won the world championship and the World Cup.
Wellens dominated 2003–2004. Nys' chance for the World Cup ended when other Belgians sprinted past him, taking points. Nys was angry that his countrymen had allowed Groenendaal, a Dutchman, to win the World Cup rather than him. That evening Nys decided from then on to ride for himself.

This is war. Thanks Vannoppen, thanks Van der Linden. This is the last thing I have done for the Belgian team. They can all go to hell. [...] Apparently there are some who take joy out of me not winning the World Cup. I know who and will take that into account next year. National team coach Rudy De Bie told me that he has never seen anything like this before. Our country loses the World Cup today.

The cannibal
Nys won everything of importance and at the end of 2004–2005 won the national and world championships, ended number one in the UCI rankings and World Cup, the Superprestige and the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy. He is the only cyclo-crosser to achieve such dominance. Nys came close to repeating the feat the following season but he gave up in the world championship after a fall on the last lap.
Nys won all eight Superprestige races in 2006–2007. In the Superprestige he won 13 races from Hoogstraten in 2005 to Asper Gaver in 2007. That season he won the World Cup and the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy again, but neither the national or world championship. The national involved a lot of running, not Nys' talent, and were won by Wellens. At the world championship in Hooglede-Gits Nys fell three times: over Wellens, who fell because a television motor had hit one of the road markers; over Erwin Vervecken; and because of an error of his own. He finished 11th.
The following season, Nys won the World Cup, the Superprestige and the Gazet van Anterwerpen trophy again. He also won his fifth national championship. The Dutchman Lars Boom became champion of the world and Zdeněk Štybar took the silver, both barely 22 at the time. Nys, already nearing 32, came third.

Nys switched teams from Rabobank to Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner. Niels Albert, 2008's U23 world champion, joined the elite category that season, giving Nys another opponent. But Nys won all the season-long competitions and the national championship. Albert won the world championship, Štybar was second and Nys third. The Belgian press referred to Albert, Štybar and Nys as De Grote Drie (The Big Three), it was clear that Nys' years of absolute domination were behind him.
In his second mountain bike race Nys won the Belgian championship and then came ninth at the Olympic Games in 2008. On 31 December 2006 Nys won his 150th race with the elites, at Diegem. Four years later, he scored his 300th career win at the Koppenbergcross, one of the toughest races in the season.
Nys was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011.In 2013 Nys won the world championship a second time. He said his career was now complete.On 10 February 2013, Nys won his 60th race in the Superprestige.On 22 November 2015, Nys won the Koksijde round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Belgium, his fiftieth victory in the series. His win came seventeen years and a day after his first World Cup victory.Sven Nys called a halt to his career on 5–6 March 2016 at an event called "Merci Sven" which was held at the Antwerp Sportpaleis (Belgium).

Post cycling career
After ending his active cyclocross career Nys bought the cyclocross team Telenet–Fidea Lions of which he is the general manager. He is also a motivational speaker, during his keynotes he shares information about his experiences during his cycling career.

Major results
Cyclo-cross
Major championship results
UCI World Cup results
Superprestige
BPost Bank Trophy
Up until the season 2011–2012, this competition was called the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy (GvA).

Mountain Bike
Road
Passage 2:
Anton Villatoro
Anton Villatoro (born June 10, 1970 in Guatemala City, Guatemala) is a Guatemalan former professional cyclist. He attended the University of Colorado, where he raced with future US Postal teammate Tyler Hamilton. Villatoro won the 1991 Junior Tour of Guatemala, a gold medal at the 1994 Central American Games (team time trial) and placed fourth at the 1995 Pan American Games (time trial). In 1996, he represented Guatemala at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.
He raced for the US Postal Service Cycling Team from 1996–1998 and then served as team captain for Team 7-UP from 1999 to 2000.
He retired in 2001 to pursue business interests.
Passage 3:
Jennifer Parilla
Jennifer Parilla (born January 9, 1981) is an American trampolinist who was born in Newport Beach, California.  She was the first and only American to qualify to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney as a trampolinist when the sport debuted; and finished in 9th place.  She competed for the US at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.
She was on the national team for eleven years from 1993 to 2004; her favorite event was trampoline but she also competed successfully on the double mini. She was the National Champion in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004 on the trampoline, and on the double mini in 1998 and 1999.  She earned national titles in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998 in synchronized trampoline, bringing her total national title count to twelve.She was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2010.

Personal life
Jennifer's hometown is Lake Forest, California but she now resides in Newport Beach. She trained with Team Everybody gymnastics club and was coached by Lionel Rangel. Jennifer attended Orange Coast College and California State Polytechnic University in Pomona.
Jennifer is one of two children to Paul and Jan Parilla; she has an older brother named Steve.  She is currently the Trampoline and Tumbling Director at National Gymnastics Training Center in Aliso Viejo, California.

International competition
2003 World Championships, Hannover, GER; 16th-Trampoline
2003 World Cup, Prague, CZE; 4th-Trampoline
2003 World Cup, Ostend, BEL; 18th-Trampoline
2003 Canada Cup, Oakville, O.N., CAN; 8th-Trampoline
2002 World Cup, Mykolayiv, UKR; 11th – Trampoline
2001 World Championships, Odense, DEN; 19th – Trampoline
2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney, AUS; 9th-Trampoline
2000 World Cup, Sydney, AUS; 6th – Trampoline (4th vs. Olympic Field)
2000 Olympic Test Event, Sydney, AUS; 6th – Trampoline (4th vs. Olympic Field)
1999 Olympic Selection; 9th – Trampoline
1999 World Championships, Sun City, RSA; 7th – Synchro, 17th – Trampoline
1999 French Nationals, Toulouse, FRA; 1st – Synchro
1998 World Championships, Sydney, AUS; 2nd – Double Mini, 3rd – Team Double Mini
1997 Trampoline World cup final, Frankfurt, GER; 5th – Trampoline
1997 Indo-Pacific Championships, Durban, RSA; 3rd – Double mini
1997 Trampoline World Cup Final, Sydney, AUS; 4th – Trampoline
1996 Trampoline World Cup, Frankfurt, GER; 2nd Trampoline
1996 World Championships, Vancouver, CAN; 6th – Synchro, 7th – Trampoline
1995 Trampoline World Cup, Vancouver, CAN; 7th – Trampoline
1994 World Championships, Porto, POR; 1st – Team Double Mini
1994 World Age Group Games, Vila De Conde, POR; 1st - Trampoline 2nd – Double Mini

National Competition
2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, San Jose, Calif.; 1st - Trampoline
2004 Visa U.S. Championships, Nashville, Tenn.; 1st - Trampoline
2003 U.S. Championships, Sacramento, Calif.; 1st – Trampoline
2003 Winter Classic, Tampa, Fla.; 2nd - Trampoline
2002 National Championships, Cleveland, Ohio; 1st – Trampoline
2002 U.S. Elite Challenge, Indianapolis, Ind.; 1st – Trampoline
2002 Winter Classic, Indianapolis, Ind.; 4th – Trampoline
2001 National Championships, San Antonio, Texas; 11th - Trampoline
2000 National Championships, St. Louis, Mo.; 1st – Trampoline
1999 U.S. World Team Trials, Sacramento, Calif.; 1st – Trampoline, 1st – Synchro - 2nd Double Mini
1999 U.S. World Team Trials, Knoxville, Tenn.; 1st – trampoline, 1st – Double Mini, 1st - Synchro
1999 National Championships, Anaheim, Calif. ; 1st – Double Mini
1998 National Championships, St. Paul, Minn.; 1st – Trampoline, 1st – Syncro, 1st – Double Mini
1996 National Championships, Phoenix Ariz.; 1st – Synchro, 3rd – Trampoline
1995 National Championships, Denver, Colo.; 1st – Synchro, 2nd – Trampoline, 3rd – Double Mini
1994 National Championships, Nashville, Tenn.; 1st - Synchro, 4th – Double Mini
1993 National Championships; San Diego, Calif.; 1st - Synchro
Passage 4:
Kurt Betschart
Kurt Betschart born 25 August 1968 in Erstfeld Switzerland is a former professional cyclist. He was a Six Day Track specialist holding a world record 37 victories with the same partner, Bruno Risi. He had a total of 47 professional victories and represented Switzerland at the Olympic games. After sixteen years in professional cycling Kurt retired on 26 July 2006.

Olympic Games
2000 Summer Olympics - Sydney
11th, Men's Madison (Track cycling)

Palmares
Passage 5:
Eddy Schepers
Eddy Schepers (born 12 December 1955) is a Belgian former professional cyclist. He was a professional cyclist from 1978 to 1990 where he rode for many teams including C&A, Carrera and Fagor–MBK. He started out in the C&A cycling team of Belgian Eddy Merckx before riding for various teams. He competed in the individual road race event at the 1976 Summer Olympics.In 1986 he rode alongside Irish cyclist Stephen Roche for the first time in the Carrera cycling team and he became a loyal teammate of Roche that year. During the following year, Schepers was instrumental in Roche winning the 1987 Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in supporting him on the road and also against the rest of the team who wanted the Italian Roberto Visentini to win the Giro d'Italia. On the fifth stage of the 1987 Giro d'Italia, Schepers let his breakaway companion Jean-Claude Bagot take the stage win in exchange for team support from Bagot's Fagor team if it was called upon in the future. In spite of working for Roche in the Giro d'Italia, Schepers still managed to place 12th in the general classification. Again in the 1987 edition of the Tour de France, Schepers provided Roche with crucial support while the rest of the team did not. Afterwards Schepers went with Roche to the Fagor team but with Roche past his peak due to chronic knee injury, their association stopped. Schepers spent his last year in the peloton riding for the Belgian team Tulip Computers.
His career victories include the overall of the Tour de l'Avenir stage race in 1977 and the first stage of the 1985 Tour de Romandie.

Major results
Passage 6:
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: Gadigal 2000), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It marked the second time the Summer Olympics were held in Australia, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, in 1956.
Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 Games in 1993. Teams from 199 countries participated in the 2000 Games, which were the first to feature at least 300 events in its official sports programme. The Games' cost was estimated to be A$6.6 billion. These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch before the arrival of his successor Jacques Rogge. The 2000 Games were the last of the two consecutive Summer Olympics to be held in a predominantly English-speaking country following the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States.
The final medal tally at the 2000 Summer Olympics was led by the United States, followed by Russia and China with host Australia at fourth place overall. Cameroon, Colombia, Latvia, Mozambique and Slovenia won a gold medal for the first time in their Olympic histories, while Barbados, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam won their first ever Olympic medals. Australia will host the Summer Olympics again in 2032 at Brisbane, Queensland making it the first Oceanian country to host the Olympics three times.
The 2000 Games received universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers, sportsmanship, and Australian public being lauded in the international media. Bill Bryson of The Times called the Sydney Games "one of the most successful events on the world stage", saying that they "couldn't be better". James Mossop of the Electronic Telegraph called the Games "such a success that any city considering bidding for future Olympics must be wondering how it can reach the standards set by Sydney", while Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette suggested that the "IOC should quit while it's ahead. Admit there can never be a better Olympic Games, and be done with it," as "Sydney was both exceptional and the best". These games would provide the inspiration for London's winning bid for the 2012 Olympic Games in 2005; in preparing for the 2012 Games, Lord Coe declared the 2000 Games the "benchmark for the spirit of the Games, unquestionably", admitting that the London organising committee "attempted in a number of ways to emulate what the Sydney Organising Committee did."

Host city selection
Sydney won the right to host the Games on 24 September 1993, after being selected over Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester in four rounds of voting, at the 101st IOC Session in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The Australian city of Melbourne who also hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics had lost out to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics three years earlier. Beijing would later be selected to host the 2008 Summer Olympics eight years later on 13 July 2001 and the 2022 Winter Olympics twenty-two years later on 31 July 2015. Beijing's loss to Sydney was seen as a "significant blow" to an "urgent political priority" of the Chinese Communist Party leadership having mounted the most intense and expensive candidacy campaign at the date so far(this include the Summer and Winter Games). Although it is unknown as two members of the International Olympic Committee voted for Sydney over Beijing in 1993, it appears that an important role was played by Human Rights Watch's campaign to "stop Beijing" because of China's human rights record and international isolation following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Many in China were angry at what they saw as U.S.-led interference in the vote, and the outcome contributed to rising anti-Western sentiment in China and a new phase at the tensions in Sino-American relations.

Costs
The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at US$5 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 90% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organising committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g., expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g., the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast centre, and media and press centre, which are required to host the Games. Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost for Sydney 2000 compares with a cost of US$4.6 billion for Rio 2016, US$40–44 billion for Beijing 2008 and US$51 billion for Sochi 2014, the most expensive Olympics in history. The average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is US$5.2 billion, average cost overrun is 176%.
In 2000, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6.6 billion, with a net cost to the public between A$1.7 and A$2.4 billion. In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and health programs to cover Olympic expenses.It has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2.1 billion has been shaved from public consumption. Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years after 2000, foreign tourism to NSW grew by less than tourism to Australia as a whole. A "multiplier" effect on broader economic development was not realised, as a simple "multiplier" analysis fails to capture is that resources have to be redirected from elsewhere: the building of a stadium is at the expense of other public works such as extensions to hospitals. Building sporting venues does not add to the aggregate stock of productive capital in the years following the Games: "Equestrian centres, softball compounds and man-made rapids are not particularly useful beyond their immediate function."Many venues that were constructed in Sydney Olympic Park failed financially in the years immediately following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses. It was only the 2003 Rugby World Cup which reconnected the park back to citizens. In recent years, infrastructure costs for some facilities have been of growing concern to the NSW Government, especially facilities in Western Sydney. Proposed metro and light rail links from Olympic Park to Parramatta have been estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games. Stadium Australia had been considered for demolition in 2017 by then NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, citing that the stadium was "built for an Olympics" but not for modern spectators. The plan was scrapped in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dunc Gray Velodrome has also struggled to keep up its $500,000 per year maintenance costs, although it is still used for track cycling events.

Chronological summary of the 2000 Summer Olympics
Preliminary matches
Although the Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until 15 September, the football competitions began with preliminary matches on 13 September. Among the pre-ceremony fixtures, host nation Australia lost 1–0 to Italy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Day 1: 15 September
Cultural display highlights
The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the Australian pastoral heritage of the Australian stockmen and the importance of the stock horse in Australia's heritage. It was produced and filmed by the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation and the home nation broadcaster Channel 7. This was introduced by lone rider Steve Jefferys and his rearing Australian Stock Horse Ammo. At the cracking of Jefferys' stockwhip, a further 120 riders entered the stadium, their stock horses performing intricate steps, including forming the five Olympic Rings, to a special Olympics version of the theme, which Bruce Rowland had previously composed for the 1982 film The Man from Snowy River.
The Australian National Anthem was sung, the first verse by Human Nature and the second by Julie Anthony.
The ceremony continued, showing many aspects of the land and its people: the affinity of the mainly coastal-dwelling Australians with the sea that surrounds the "Island Continent". The indigenous occupation of the land, the coming of the First Fleet, the continued immigration from many nations and the rural industry on which the economy of the nation was built, including a display representing the harshness of rural life based on the paintings of Sir Sidney Nolan. Two memorable scenes were the representation of the "Heart" of the country by 200 Aboriginal women from Central Australia who danced up "the mighty spirit of God to protect the Games" and the overwhelmingly noisy representation of the construction industry by hundreds of tap-dancing teenagers.
Because Bibi Salisachs (the wife of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch) was seriously ill and unable to accompany her husband to the Olympics, Dawn Fraser, former Australian Olympic Champion swimmer and member of the Parliament of New South Wales, accompanied Samaranch during the Australian cultural display, explaining to him some of the cultural references that are unfamiliar to non-Australians.

Formal presentation
A record 199 nations entered the stadium, with a record 80 of them winning at least one medal. The only missing IOC member was Afghanistan, who was banned due to the extremist rule of the Taliban's oppression of women and its prohibition of sports. The ceremony featured a unified entrance by the athletes of North and South Korea, using a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korean Peninsula. Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations as individual Olympic athletes and marched directly before the host country. Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag with country code IOA. The Governor-General, Sir William Deane, opened the games.
The Olympic Flag was carried around the arena by eight former Australian Olympic champions: Bill Roycroft, Murray Rose, Liane Tooth, Gillian Rolton, Marjorie Jackson, Lorraine Crapp, Michael Wenden and Nick Green. During the raising of the Olympics Flag, the Olympic Hymn was sung by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia in Greek. Following this, Tina Arena sang a purpose-written pop song, The Flame.The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame, which was brought into the stadium by former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott. Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic medalists Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland (later Shirley Strickland de la Hunty), Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman, who lit the flame in the cauldron within a circle of fire. The  choice of Freeman, an Aboriginal woman, to light the flame was notable given the history of human rights abuses against Aboriginal people in Australia. Following her lighting, Freeman was the subject of racial abuse from some Australians. The planned spectacular climax to the ceremony was delayed by the technical glitch of a computer switch which malfunctioned, causing the sequence to shut down by giving a false reading. This meant that the Olympic flame was suspended in mid-air for about four minutes rather than immediately rising up a water-covered ramp to the top of the stadium. When the cause of the problem was discovered, the program was overridden and the cauldron continued its course, and the ceremony concluded with a fireworks display.

Day 2: 16 September
The first medals of the Games were awarded in the women's 10 metre air rifle competition, which was won by Nancy Johnson of the United States.
The Triathlon made its Olympic debut with the women's race. Set in the surroundings of the Sydney Opera House, Brigitte McMahon representing Switzerland swam, cycled and ran to the first gold medal in the sport, beating the favoured home athletes such as Michelie Jones who won silver. McMahon only passed Jones in sight of the finish line.
The first star of the Games was 17-year-old Australian Ian Thorpe, who first set a new world record in the 400-metre freestyle final before competing in an exciting 4 × 100 m freestyle final. Swimming the last leg, Thorpe passed the leading American team and arrived in a new world record time, two-tenths of a second ahead of the Americans. In the same event for women, the Americans also broke the world record, finishing ahead of the Netherlands and Sweden.
Samaranch had to leave for home, as his wife was severely ill. Upon arrival, his wife had already died. Samaranch returned to Sydney four days later. The Olympic flag was flown at half-staff during the period as a sign of respect to Samaranch's wife.

Day 3: 17 September
Canadian Simon Whitfield sprinted away in the last 100 metres of the men's triathlon, becoming the inaugural winner in the event.
On the cycling track, Robert Bartko beat fellow German Jens Lehmann in the individual pursuit, setting a new Olympic Record. Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel set a world record in the semi-finals the same event for women.
In the swimming pool, American Tom Dolan beat the world record in the 400-metre medley, successfully defending the title he won in Atlanta four years prior. Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn also clocked a new world record, beating her own time in the 100 m butterfly final to win by more than a second.

Day 4: 18 September
The main event for the Australians on the fourth day of the Games was the 200 m freestyle. Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband had broken the world record in the semi-finals, taking it from the new Australian hero Ian Thorpe, who came close to the world record in his semi-final heat. As the final race finished, Van den Hoogenband's time was exactly the same as in the semi-finals, finishing ahead of Thorpe by half a second.
China won the gold medal in the men's team all-around gymnastics competition after being the runner-up in the previous two Olympics. The other medals were taken by Ukraine and Russia, respectively.
Zijlaard-van Moorsel lived up to the expectations set by her world record in cycling in the semis by winning the gold medal.

Day 7: 21 September
During the Women's Gymnastics All-Around, female athletes suffered damning scores and injuries due to improperly installed gymnastics equipment. Gymnasts performing on the vault gave uncharacteristically poor performances and fell. Officials blamed the series of falls and low scores on performance anxiety. It wasn't until Australian gymnast Allana Slater and her coach, Peggy Liddick, voiced concerns about the equipment that officials discovered the apparatus was five centimetres, or almost two inches, lower than it should've been. While athletes were given the opportunity to perform again, for some of them, the damage to their mental or physical health caused by the vault was irreparable. Chinese gymnast Kui Yuanyuan and American gymnast Kristen Maloney both injured their legs while attempting to stick their landings, with Kui needing to be carried to an examination area and Maloney damaging a titanium rod that had recently been implanted in her shin. Romanian gymnast Andreea Răducan ultimately took gold while her teammates, Simona Amânar and Maria Olaru took silver and bronze, respectively.

Day 9: 23 September
By rowing in the winning coxless four, Steve Redgrave of Great Britain became a member of a select group who had won gold medals at five consecutive Olympics.
The swimming 4 x 100-metre medley relay of B.J. Bedford, Megan Quann (Jendrick), Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres became the first women's relay under 4-minutes, swimming 3:58 and setting a world record, claiming the gold medal for the United States.

Day 10: 24 September
Rulon Gardner, never an NCAA champion or a world medalist, beat Alexander Karelin of Russia to win gold in the super heavyweight class, Greco-Roman wrestling. Karelin had won gold in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta. Before this fight, he had never lost in international competition, had been unbeaten in all competitions in 13 years, and had not surrendered a point in a decade.

Day 11: 25 September
Australian Cathy Freeman won the 400-metre final in front of a jubilant Sydney crowd at the Olympic Stadium, ahead of Lorraine Graham of Jamaica and Katharine Merry of Great Britain. Freeman's win made her the first competitor in Olympic Games history to light the Olympic Flame and then go on to win a Gold Medal. The attendance at the stadium was 112,524 – the largest attendance for any sport in Olympic Games history.
In a men's basketball pool match between the United States and France, the USA's Vince Carter made one of the most famous dunks in basketball history. After getting the ball off a steal, the 6'6"/1.98 m Carter drove to the basket, with 7'2"/2.18 m centre Frédéric Weis in his way. Carter jumped, spread his legs in midair, scraped Weis' head on the way up, and dunked. The French media dubbed the feat le dunk de la mort ("the dunk of death").

Day 14: 28 September
The Canadian flag at the athletes' village was lowered to half-mast as Canadian athletes paid tribute to the former prime minister Pierre Trudeau after hearing of his death in Montreal (because of the time zone difference, it was 29 September in Sydney when Trudeau died). The Canadian flag was flown at half-mast for the remainder of the Olympics, on orders from both IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, as the state funeral did not take place until 3 October, two days after the closing ceremony, and the Canadian athletes subsequently rushed back to attend his funeral after 1 October.

Day 16: 30 September
Cameroon won a historic gold medal over Spain in the Men's Olympic Football Final at the Olympic Stadium. The game went to a penalty shootout, which was won by Cameroon 5–3.

Day 17: 1 October
The last event of the games was the Men's Marathon, contested on a course that started in North Sydney. The event was won by Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera, with Kenyan Erick Wainaina second, and Tesfaye Tola, also of Ethiopia, third. It was the first time since the 1968 Olympics that an Ethiopian won the gold medal in this event.
The closing ceremony commenced with Christine Anu performing her version of the Warumpi Band's song "My Island Home", with several Aboriginal dancers atop the Geodome Stage in the middle of the stadium, around which several hundred umbrella and lamp box kids created an image of Aboriginal Dreamtime. The Geodome Stage was used throughout the ceremony, which was a flat stage mechanically raised into the shape of a Geode.
IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremony,
"I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever."
Subsequent Summer Olympics held in Athens, Beijing and London have been described by Samaranch's successor Jacques Rogge as "unforgettable, dream Games", "truly exceptional" and "happy and glorious games" respectively – the practice of declaring games the "best ever" having been retired after the 2000 Games.

Sports
The 2000 Summer Olympic programme featured 300 events in the following 28 sports:

Although demonstration sports were abolished following the 1992 Summer Olympics, the Sydney Olympics featured wheelchair racing as exhibition events on the athletics schedule.Special quarantine conditions were introduced to allow entry of horses into Australia to participate in equestrian events, avoiding the need for such events to take place elsewhere as had happened at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

Calendar
All dates are in AEDST (UTC+11); the other two cities, Adelaide uses ACST (UTC+9:30) and Brisbane uses AEST (UTC+10)

Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals in the 2000 Games.
The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee. Some other sources may be inconsistent due to not taking into account all later doping cases.

  *   Host nation (Australia)

Participating National Olympic Committees
199 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Sydney Games, two more than in the 1996 Summer Olympics; in addition, there were four Timorese Individual Olympic Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Eritrea, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau made their Olympic debut this year.
Democratic Republic of the Congo was once again designated under that name, after it participated as Zaire from 1984 to 1996.
Afghanistan was the only 1996 participant (and the only existing NOC) that did not participate in the 2000 Olympics, having been banned due to the Taliban's totalitarian rule in Afghanistan, their oppression of women, and its prohibition of sports.

Venues
Sydney Olympic Park
Stadium Australia: Ceremonies (opening/closing), Athletics, Football (final)
Sydney International Aquatic Centre: Diving, Modern Pentathlon (swimming) Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo (medal events)
State Sports Centre: Table Tennis, Taekwondo
NSW Tennis Centre: Tennis
State Hockey Centre: Field Hockey
The Dome and Exhibition Complex: Badminton, Basketball, Gymnastics (rhythmic), Handball (final), Modern Pentathlon (fencing, shooting), Volleyball (indoor)
Sydney SuperDome: Gymnastics (artistic, trampoline), Basketball (final)
Sydney Baseball Stadium: Baseball, Modern Pentathlon (riding, running)
Sydney International Archery Park: Archery

Sydney
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre: Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Weightlifting, Wrestling
Sydney Entertainment Centre: Volleyball (indoor final)
Dunc Gray Velodrome: Cycling (track)
Sydney International Shooting Centre: Shooting
Sydney International Equestrian Centre: Equestrian
Sydney International Regatta Centre: Rowing, Canoeing (sprint)
Blacktown Olympic Centre: Baseball, Softball
Western Sydney Parklands: Cycling (mountain biking)
Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre: Water Polo
Penrith Whitewater Stadium: Canoeing (slalom)
Bondi Beach: Volleyball (beach)
Sydney Football Stadium: Football
Olympic Sailing Shore Base: Sailing
Centennial Parklands: Cycling (road)
Marathon course: Athletics (marathon)
North Sydney: Athletics (marathon start)
Sydney Opera House: Triathlon.

Outside Sydney
Canberra Stadium, Canberra: Football
Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide: Football
Melbourne Cricket Ground: Football
The Gabba (Brisbane Cricket Ground), Brisbane: Football

Organization
Organisations responsible for the Olympics
A number of quasi-government bodies were responsible for the construction, organisation and execution of the Sydney Games. These included:

the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and the Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC), primarily responsibles for the staging of the Games
Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA), primarily responsible for construction and oversight
Olympic Roads & Transport Authority (ORTA)
Olympic Security Command Centre (OSCC)
Olympic Intelligence Centre (OIC)
JTF Gold the Australian Defence Force Joint Taskforce Gold
Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (nominally part of SOCOG)
IBM, provider of technology and the Technical Command Centre
Telstra, provider of telecommunications
Great Big Events, event management and marketingThese organisations worked closely together and with other bodies such as:

the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC)
the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC)
the other 197 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)
the other 125 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs)
the 33 International Sports Federations (IFs)
all three levels of Australian government (federal, state and local)
dozens of official sponsor and hundreds of official supplier companiesThese bodies are often collectively referred to as the "Olympic Family".

Organisation of the Paralympics
The organisation of the 2000 Summer Paralympics was the responsibility of the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC). However, much of the planning and operation of the Paralympic Games was outsourced to SOCOG such that most operational programmes planned both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Other Olympic events
The organisation of the Games included not only the actual sporting events, but also the management (and sometimes construction) of the sporting venues and surrounding precincts, the organisation of the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, and the Olympic torch relay, which began in Greece and travelled to Australia via numerous Oceania island nations.

Phases of the Olympic project
The staging of the Olympics were treated as a project on a vast scale, broken into several broad phases:

1993 to 1996 – positioning
1997 – going operational
1998 – procurement/venuisation
1999 – testing/refinement
2000 – implementation
2001 – post-implementation and wind-down

SOCOG organisational design
The internal organisation of SOCOG evolved over the phases of the project and changed, sometimes radically, several times.
In late 1998, the design was principally functional. The top two tiers below the CEO Sandy Hollway consisted of five groups (managed by Group General Managers and the Deputy CEO) and twenty divisions (managed by divisional General Managers), which in turn were further broken up into programmes and sub-programmes or projects.
In 1999, functional areas (FAs) broke up into geographic precinct and venue teams (managed by Precinct Managers and Venue Managers) with functional area staff reporting to both the FA manager and the venue manager. SOCOG moved to a matrix structure. The Interstate Football division extant in 1998 was the first of these geographically based venue teams.

Volunteer program
The origins of the volunteer program for Sydney 2000 dates back to the bid, as early as 1992.
On 17 December 1992, a group of Sydney citizens interested in the prospect of hosting the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games gathered for a meeting at Sports House at Wentworth Park in Sydney.
In the period leading up to 1999, after Sydney had won the bid, the small group of volunteers grew from approximately 42 to around 500. These volunteers became known as Pioneer Volunteers. The Pioneer Volunteer program was managed internally by SOCOG's Volunteer Services Department in consultation with prominent peak groups like The Centre for Volunteering (Volunteering and TAFE. Some of the Pioneer Volunteers still meet every four months, an unseen legacy of the games which brought together a community spirit not seen before.
During the Olympic games, tens of thousands of volunteers (the official figure placed at 46,967) helped everywhere at the Olympic venues and elsewhere in the city. They were honoured with a parade like the athletes had a few days before.

Marketing
Official logo
The bid logo was introduced in 1992 and created by architect and designer Michael Bryce. It featured a colourful, stylised image of the Sydney Opera House which is a possible reference to the motif of the rainbow serpent. 
The official logo was revealed in 1996, and is also referred to as the "Millennium Man".  It incorporated similar curves to the bid logo and combined them with a stylised image of a runner to form a torchbearer in motion. The image of the runner s composed of  two small yellow boomerangs for arms and a larger red boomerang for legs. Over the runner's head is a trail of smoke that represents the arches of the Sydney Opera House.The design process of the official logo, as well as all other aspects of the Olympic Games' visual design identity, was awarded to Melbourne design studio FHA Image Design. The Sydney Olympics brand identity project officially started in 1993, and lasted 7 years. It was also up to FHA Design to prepare the visual identity of the Paralympic Games and this also absorbed some elements as the identification signals and the pictograms.

Mascots
The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were Syd the platypus, Millie the echidna, and Olly the kookaburra, designed by Matthew Hattan and Jozef Szekeres and named by Philip Sheldon of agency Weekes Morris Osborn in response to the original SOCOG recommendation of Murray, Margery, and Dawn after famous Australian athletes.
There was also Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, an unofficial mascot popularised by comedy team Roy Slaven and HG Nelson on the TV series The Dream with Roy and HG. Roy and HG also frequently disparaged the official mascots on their television program.

Sponsors
Medals and bouquets
A total of 750 gold, 750 silver and 780 bronze medals were minted for the Games. The gold and silver medals contained 99.99 percent of pure silver. The bronze medals were 99 percent bronze with one percent silver, they were made by melting down Australian one-cent and two-cent coins, which had been removed from circulation from 1992 onward.
The bouquets handed to medal recipients incorporated foliage from the Grevillea baileyana, also known as the white oak.

Awards and commendations
The International Olympic Committee awarded Sydney and its inhabitants with the "Pierre de Coubertin Trophy" in recognition of the collaboration and happiness shown by the people of Sydney during the event to all the athletes and visitors around the world.After the games' end, the New South Wales Police Force was granted use of the Olympic Rings in a new commendation and citation as the IOC consideration after having staged the "safest" games ever.

Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016.

In popular culture
In F.J. Campbell's 2018 novel No Number Nine, the last part of the book is set at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.In Tom Clancy's thriller Rainbow Six and its video game adaptation, the 2000 Olympic Games are the setting of a plot by eco-terrorists, who plan to use the games in order to spread a terrible new plague throughout the world.In Morris Gleitzman's children's book Toad Rage, a cane toad travels to Sydney in a bid to become the Olympic mascot.The Games was a mockumentary television series run on the ABC network, with two seasons that ran in 1998 and 2000. The series satirized corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratic ineptness in the New South Wales public service, and unethical behaviour within politics and the media. An unusual feature of the show was that the characters shared the same name as the actors who played them.

See also
2000 Summer Paralympics
Olympic Games celebrated in Australia
1956 Summer Olympics – Melbourne
2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney
2032 Summer Olympics – BrisbaneList of IOC country codes
The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi
John Coates
Use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympic Games – Sydney 2000

Notes
Passage 7:
List of Olympic Games host cities
This is a list of host cities of the Olympic Games, both summer and winter, since the modern Olympics began in 1896. Since then, summer and winter games have usually celebrated a four-year period known as an Olympiad; summer and winter games normally held in staggered even years. There have been 29  Summer Olympic Games held in 21 cities, and 24 Winter Olympic Games held in 21 cities. In addition, three summer and two winter editions of the games were scheduled to take place but later cancelled due to war: Berlin (summer) in 1916; Sapporo–Garmisch-Partenkirchen (winter) and Tokyo–Helsinki (summer) in 1940; and Cortina d'Ampezzo (winter) and London (summer) in 1944. The 1906 Intercalated Olympics were officially sanctioned and held in Athens. However, in 1949, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to unrecognize the 1906 Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were postponed for the first time in the Olympics history to summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the 2022 Winter Olympics being held roughly six months later in Beijing.Four cities have been chosen by the IOC to host upcoming Olympic Games: Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics, and Brisbane for the 2032 Summer Olympics.
In 2022, Beijing became the first city that has held both the summer and the winter Olympic Games. Ten cities will have hosted the Olympic Games more than once: Athens (1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics), Paris (1900, 1924 and 2024 Summer Olympics), London (1908, 1948 and 2012 Summer Olympics), St. Moritz (1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics), Lake Placid (1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics), Los Angeles (1932, 1984 and 2028 Summer Olympics), Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956 and 2026 Winter Olympics), Innsbruck (1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics), Tokyo (1964 and 2020 Summer Olympics) and Beijing (2008 Summer Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics). Stockholm hosted the 1912 Summer Olympics and the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics. London became the first city to have hosted three Games with the 2012 Summer Olympics. Paris will become the second city to do this with the 2024 Summer Olympics, followed by Los Angeles as the third in 2028.
The Games have primarily been hosted in the regions of Europe (30 editions) and the Americas (13 editions); eight Games have been hosted in Asia and two have been hosted in Oceania. Rio de Janeiro became South America's first Olympic host city with the 2016 Summer Olympics. Africa has yet to host an Olympic Games. Other major geographic regions which have never hosted the Olympics include the Middle East, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Central America and the Caribbean. Between the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and the last ones to be held in the same year as the Summer Olympics in 1992, the Summer and Winter games took place in the same country three times.
Host cities are selected by the IOC membership, usually seven years in advance. The selection process lasts approximately two years. In the first stage, any city in the world may submit an application to become a host city. After 10 months, the Executive Board of the IOC decides which applicant cities will become official candidates as based on the recommendation of a working group that reviews the applications. In a second stage, the candidate cities are investigated thoroughly by an Evaluation Commission, which then submits a final short list of cities to be considered for selection. The host city is then chosen by vote of the IOC session, a general meeting of IOC members.

Olympic Games host cities
Host cities for Summer and Winter Olympic Games
Key  †   Cancelled
  §   Postponed

The 1906 Intercalated Games are no longer officially recognized by the IOC as an official Olympic Games.

Host cities for multiple Summer and Winter Olympic Games
Number of Olympic Games by country
Number of Olympic Games by region
See also
List of bids for the Summer Olympics
List of bids for the Winter Olympics

Notes
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Jelle Nijdam
Jelle Nijdam (born 16 August 1963) is a Dutch former professional road cyclist. Nijdam turned professional after the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He participated in the Tour de France 10 times, winning six stages and wearing the yellow jersey for three days. Nijdam's father, Henk Nijdam, was a professional cyclist from 1962 to 1969, who won the 1962 world amateur track pursuit championship. He also competed in the individual pursuit and team pursuit events at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Career achievements
Major results
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
See also
List of Dutch Olympic cyclists
List of Dutch cyclists who have led the Tour de France general classification
Passage 9:
Kuwait national under-23 football team
The Kuwait national under-23 football team is the youth association football team representing Kuwait in youth competitions and it is controlled by Kuwait Football Association. Kuwait under 23 Could also be called as Kuwait Olympic Team. Kuwait under 23 also represents its country in the Olympic Games. From 1900 to 1976 Kuwait did not qualify for the Olympic Games but in 1980 Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games in China and had the best record of their country finishing in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games. Kuwait missed the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games. But in 1992 Kuwait finally qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain, however with their poor performance, Kuwait was eliminated in the first round of that tournament. After that Kuwait had missed the 1996 Olympic Games that was hosted by the United States, Kuwait then qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games. Kuwait has never won the GCC U-23 Championship but their best finish at that Competition was as a runner up in 2010. In the 2022 Asian U-23 qualification Cup Group D, Kuwait managed to defeat Bangladesh by 1-0 and Saudi Arabia by 2-1, this resulted in Kuwait to qualify for the 2022 Asian U-23 Cup.

Honours
Regional honours
GCC U-23 ChampionshipRunners-up (2): 2010, 2015

Minor
2018 Olympic Return Cup

History
Kuwait’s first-ever qualification to the Olympic games was in the 1980 Olympic Games which Kuwait were eliminated in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games. Kuwait missed the 1984 Olympic Games and the 1988 Olympic Games. Kuwait came back to the Olympic Games in 1992 after missing two events being eliminated in the quarter-final of that event. Kuwait did not qualify until the 2000 Olympic Games and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic games. Kuwait did not qualify to the Olympic Games in 2004 after being eliminated in the qualifying Preliminary round 3 of the Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Qualifiers at the third position of the 3rd group. Kuwait was unqualified from Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualifier, with 2 being 4 goals less than Qatar due to that, Kuwait missed the 2008 Olympic Games. Kuwait also failed to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games after losing Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualifiers, within losing the first leg to Japan 3-1 but then Kuwait defeated Japan 2-1, Japan won on the aggregate.
Kuwait does not have a good record at GCC U-23 Championship after finishing 5th in the final group of the 2008 GCC U-23 Championship.
Kuwait was at the bottom of the table at that time. In 2010 Kuwait was the runner-up of their group. Kuwait was qualified for the semi-finals, Kuwait defeated Oman 5-4 on penalties. But lost to UAE. In the 2011 and 2012 GCC U-23 Championship, Kuwait was unfortunately eliminated in the first round with 0 points losing all three games.

Participation in Tournaments


=== Summer Olympics ===
Passage 10:
Sara Symington
Sara Symington (born 25 September 1969) is a female English former professional cyclist.

Cycling career
She was the first British female rider to take a medal in a World Cup race, which she achieved in Australia in 1999. She represented Great Britain at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics and England at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 2002 Commonwealth Games. She also rode at the 1998, 1999, and 2000 UCI Road World Championships and on the track at the 2001 and 2002 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

Personal life
Symington was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, lived in Aylestone and she now lives in Nottingham. She had competed as a javelin thrower as a junior, and she was a member of the national triathlon team prior to becoming a full-time cyclist. Symington started her elite triathlon career whilst combining studying for a master's degree with a spell serving in the police, having previously graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in sports science.

Post cycling
Symington retired from competition after the 2004 Olympics: following this she worked in business for two years, before returning to the sports world through working as a performance advisor for UK Sport. She was subsequently appointed performance director of Archery GB in February 2009. In February 2015 England Netball announced that she would join them as their performance director the following month. In that role she helped the England national netball team to its first Commonwealth gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In August 2020 Symington was appointed by UK Athletics as their performance director. She left this role in October 2021 in order to take up an appointment as head of British Cycling's Olympic and Paralympic programmes.

Palmarès

Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Professional cyclist Sara Symington competed in which Olympic Games held in Sydeney, Australia?



Answer: 2000 Summer Olympic Games