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Australia Judo

2000 Five Dollar

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This Olympic Judo commemorative coin was part of a set released following the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. They depict 28 forms of Olympic sports. It had a Raphael Maklouf design on the obverse with a portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing, crowned with necklace and earrings. It also contained the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2000. The reverse shows an action shot of two Judo athletes in the process of a throw. It also contained the official Sydney Olympics logo in the bottom right and was designed by Philip Holliday.

The Olympic Judo competition for men and women is split into different weight categories. The top being the heavyweight class for contestants over 100kg for the men, and over 78kg for the women. Australia's Maria Pekli was rewarded with a bronze medal for her efforts in the Women's Lightweight class (under 57Kg) (Wikipedia, 2013) . The event that the judo world was waiting for was on the fifth and final day of the Judo competition. It was David Douillet of France against Shinohara from Japan. Douillet was the reigning champion and he also held four world titles. The bout got under way and after one minute and forty seconds (World of judo magazine, 2013) there was a defining moment. Shinohara appeared to have scored an Ippon which would have secured gold, but only one judge noticed it and another saw a Yuko for Douillet instead. The Japanese were incensed. Even more so when Douillet scored again and retained his Olympic title. There is even a video showing the incident online (Youtube, 2009) .

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 Emperor, 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.