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Australia Rowing

2000 Five Dollar

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This Olympic Rowing 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 with tiara. It includes the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2000. The reverse shows an Olympic rower in action and the official Sydney Olympics logo. It was designed by Philip Holliday.

The Olympic Rowing events shared the same venue with the Kayak sprint events, the Sydney International Regatta Centre. In total, 20 countries shared the medals during the events. There was a huge milestone for Britain's Steve Regrave. He achieved Gold in the coxless fours for the fifth consecutive time. He was also the oldest competitor to win an Olympic Gold at thirty eight years of age.Romania were the most successful with three Gold medals. Australia came within four fifth's of a second of winning a Gold in the Men's coxed eight. They were narrowly beaten by Great Britain who captured the gold medal in the men's eight for the first time since 1912, beating Australia by four fifths of a second (Wikipedia, 2013) .

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.