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Australia Softball

2000 Five Dollar

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This Olympic Softball commemorative coin was part of a set released following the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. They depict 28 forms of Olympic sports. The obverse features an Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing with tiara. It also has the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2000. The reverse shows an Olympic Softball competitor in action swinging his bat. This was designed by Philip Holliday and shows the denomination 5 DOLLARS.

The Olympic Softball Tournament was held at the Softball Centre in the Blacktown Olympic Centre, Blacktown, New South Wales. The format would be that each team would play all the other teams in the competition. The four best teams would then play in the semi-finals. The four best teams were the USA, Australia, China and Japan. The USA had been unbeaten in 110 games coming into the Olympics (Sports Reference, 2013) , but were beaten by Japan then China and finally Australia. They were uncertain of qualifying in the top four. After finishing in the final qualifying position they turned their game around and took Gold from Japan in the Grand Final. Australia, though, had done enough to earn Bronze over China.

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.