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Australia Table Tennis

2000 Five Dollar

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This Olympic Table Tennis 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 Table Tennis competitor performing a serve 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 Table Tennis Tournament was held at the State Sports Centre. It had a troubled journey just being accepted as an Olympic event. It was first proposed back in 1931 (ITTF Museum, 2013) and the event was discussed so many times over the years. It was eventually accepted at the 84th session of the IOC that was held in Baden back in 1981. Table Tennis was to be an Olympic sport commencing with the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. From this point in time, Table Tennis established itself firmly in the Olympic programme. Indeed, it was at the Athens Olympics in 2004 that Table Tennis was ranked number five in the games. There were four golds to compete for which comprised of men's and women's singles and doubles. The Chinese team took a clean sweep of the Gold and all but one of the silvers which was the men's singles event where the other Chinese competitor took a bronze medal.

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.