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Australia Taekwondo

2000 Five Dollar

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This Olympic Taekwondo 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 Taekwondo competitor performing a kick as well as the official Sydney 2000 Olympic logo and the five rings. This was designed by Philip Holliday and shows the denomination 5 DOLLARS.

The Olympic Taekwondo contest was held at the State Sports Centre in the Olympic Park. This was the first time that there was an official Taekwondo Olympic event involving medals. There were only four events in each of the men's and women's events due to constraints from the IOC (International Olympic Committee). South Korea come out on top with three gold medals. One from the men's heavyweight and they also won the women's lightweight and middleweight events. The flyweight event for women was won by Australia's Lauren Burns beating Cuban Urbia Melendez in the final (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 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.