The euphoria of the magnificent Opening Ceremony carried over to the first official day of the Games with Australia enjoying a blazing start to the medal tally ending the day with two gold, two silver and a bronze.
Leading the Australian medal charge was swimmer Ian Thorpe who fulfilled the hopes of a nation when he completed an unforgettable night at the pool bagging a pair of gold medals.
He claimed his first gold when streeting his rivals to win the 400m freestyle in a new world record time of 3min 40.59sec, then backed up later in the program when anchoring the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team comprising Michael Klim, Ashley Callus and Chris Fydler to beat the USA in a world record time of 3min 13.67sec.
Klim gave Australia the perfect start setting a world record 48.18sec in the first 100m leg, shaving 0.03 seconds off the former mark, set by Russia’s Alexander Popov six years earlier.
In the final leg, Thorpe slipped behind USA’s Gary Hall jnr with 50m remaining. But in a grandstand finish, Thorpe dug deep, turned the turbo-chargers on and overpowered the American in a finish which saw a capacity crowd roar in wild celebration.
It was Australia’s first ever Olympic victory in the event.
As Thorpe climbed from the pool, the four swimmers hugged and rejoiced before the quartet stood on the pool deck furiously strumming their air guitars in response to Hall’s pre-Games prediction that the USA team would ''smash them like guitars."
Thorpe said afterwards; “This would have to be the best day, the best hour, the best minutes of my life.”
The relay victory did not come without behind the scenes drama.
As Thorpe stepped into a new black full-body suit after his post 400m freestyle swim down and medal ceremony, he tore it. He was then forced to anxiously peel into the wetsuit he wore in the 400m event and only met his team-mates as they walked onto the pool deck.
When he returned to the Village afterwards and headed to the Dining Hall to refuel, Thorpe received a standing ovation from his fellow Australian Olympians.
Over in the velodrome, Michelle Ferris claimed silver in the women’s 500m Time Trial and Shane Kelly earned the bronze medal in the 1km Sprint.
Energised by patriotic crowd support, Ferris achieved a personal best time when runner-up to Felicia Ballanger of France, while Kelly’s medal was a reward after his foot agonisingly slipped from the pedal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics denying him a medal.
While the first gold medal of the Games was earlier awarded to the USA’s Nancy Johnson in the 10m Air Rifle, triathlete Michellie Jones had the honour of winning Australia’s first medal of the Games when runner-up to Switzerland’s Brigette McMahon.
With the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour the triathlon centrepiece, high hopes were held for Australia’s men’s and women’s competitors with Jones, the world number one, the only athlete to rise to the podium.
In a stirring finish, McMahon and Jones broke away from a five-woman pack early on the last lap, then ran together down Macquarie Street and onto the plaza in front of the Opera House until McMahon's closing sprint saw her win by two seconds.
