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Australia Triathlon

2000 Five Dollar

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This Olympic Triathlon commemorative coin was part of a set released following the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. They show 28 events from the games. It had a Raphael Maklouf design on the obverse showing a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing, crowned with earrings and necklace. It also includes the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2000. The reverse was designed by Philip Holliday and depicted and Olympic Triathlete exiting the swim and heading for the bike. It also included the official Sydney 2000 Olympic logo and the denomination 5 DOLLARS.

The Olympic Triathlon event had evolved from its origins at San Diego back in the early 1970s. It was formed as an alternative form of training. The first event consisted of a 10km run, an 8km cycle and a 500 metre swim. The Olympic event was to be very different. A 1.5 Km swim followed by a 40 Km cycle and finally a 10 Km run to the finish. The inaugural event for the men was won by Simon Whitfield of Canada and his name will be emblazoned into the record books to win the first ever Olympic Triathlon (Wikipedia, 2013) . The women's event was to be a very close affair. Australia's Michellie Jones was leading after the arduous swim and bike ride. Brigitte McMahon of Switzerland was a mere ten seconds behind. McMahon's superior running brought her into contention and this pair ran side by side for the majority of the run to the finish. But the power of the Swiss girl broke the hearts of the huge crowd that had gathered to watch and were madly cheering Michellie on. So it was McMahon to go into the record books with the first women's olympic triathlon gold medal. Australia had to settle for the silver whilst another Swiss athlete, Magali Messmer, took the bronze.

The original Olympic Games took place about 3,500 years ago but they didn't last. It was originally held during a religious festival honouring the Greek god Zeus. The Games were abolished in 393 A.D. by the Roman Emporer, Theodosius I, as he tried to suppress paganism.They restarted 1896 and were held in Athens, Greece. It was a great success. The International Olympic Committee had been formed two years earlier. The resurrection was an inspiration from Baron Pierre de Coubertin back in 1887. To be held every four years, as per Ancient Games, the Olympic Games became a great success. The first one to be held in Australia took place in Melbourne, 1956 (Sydney Olympic Games, 2010) .In 1993, Sydney was awarded the opportunity to host the 2000 Olympic Games. This was a chance for Australia to shine. And shine it did. The Sydney games broke so many records including ticket sales, attendances, transport,catering and most importantly, they finished fourth in the medal tables.