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Australia Basketball

2000 Five Dollar

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This Olympic Basketball commemorative coin was part of a set released following the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. They depict 28 forms of Olympic sports. The obverse shows an Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing, crowned with necklace and earrings. It also had the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2000. The reverse was designed by Philip Holliday and shows two basketball players in action with the official Sydney 2000 logo with five rings. It also had the denomination 5 DOLLARS.

The Olympic Basketball events took place at the Sydney SuperDome along with some events at The Dome. Both of which are in Sydney. In the men's event, the reigning champions Yugoslavia made it through the group stage only to be beaten by Lithuania. The final was between the USA and France. USA won Gold with a 85-75 victory. That gave France the sliver whilst Lithuania had pipped Australia to the bronze in the play-offs. In the women's event, the reigning champions from the USA dominated every game. They beat Australia in the final by 76-54 (Wikipedia, 2013) . This was still a fine Silver medal for the home team and it delighted the capacity crowd. The play-offs were between Brazil and Korea with the former taking the bronze only after extra-time.

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.