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MAA Sydney 2000 Paralympic Torch Relay The MAA Sydney 2000 Paralympic Torch Relay will generate momentum, excitement and awareness for the Paralympic Games. The flame of the MAA Paralympic Torch Relay will be lit on 5 October 2000 during a traditional fire lighting ceremony on the forecourt of new Parliament House by members of the Ngunnawal community, the original inhabitants of the Canberra area. Unlike the Olympic flame, which is lit in Olympia, Greece, the International Paralympic Committee allows each host city to choose a lighting site of national significance. The Ngunnawal elders will begin with a 'cleansing' of the site before a traditional method is used to light the flame among ancient and contemporary singing and dancing.
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The torch route will cover 11,500km by air from Canberra to Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Brisbane before commencing a 750km journey by road in New South Wales. After flying to each interstate capital city, the flame returns to NSW to begin a seven day road journey through the Southern Highlands, Illawarra, Campbelltown, Penrith, Hunter and Central Coast areas, before heading to Sydney. It will spend approximately two days in Sydney before being carried to the Olympic Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park, to light the cauldron as part of the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Paralympic Games on 18 October, 2000. |
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It will pass within an hour's drive of 4.3 million people within NSW while the interstate journey can reach a potential audience of 11.5 million Australians, 63 per cent of the population. By then the Torch will have passed through the hands of 920 torchbearers and visited more than 200 towns, cities and suburbs. The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games logo embodies the vitality of Sydney, the spirit of Australia and the ability and achievement of the Paralympic athlete. The logo depicts a dynamic human form - represented by three graphic shapes - leaping triumphantly forward and "breaking through" towards the Paralympic Games in 2000. It also portrays the Paralympic torch and echoes the sails of Sydney's greatest landmark, the Opera House. The logo is cast in three of the unique colours of Australia: the rich blue of Sydney Harbour, the warm red of the earth, and the lush green of the forest. The logo and its colours complement the IPC logo which consists of three Tae-Geuks, in green, red and blue, which symbolise the three most significant components of any human being - Mind, Body, Spirit - the motto adopted by the IPC.
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