Sydney 2000 Shooting Newsletter
November 1998.

Courtesy of Alan Maher, Competition Manager-Shooting SOCOG

SOCOG SHOOTING PROGRAM UPDATE No. 5

Since the last update, SOCOG's shooting staff have continued to progress plans for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the following projects in progress

compilation of detailed operating plans

staff and volunteer recruitment

milestone plans and records management

venue layout plans and overlay requirements for competitions

identification of Olympic & Paralympic sport equipment

requirements furniture, fittings and technology requirements

ISSF World Cup/Test Event planning and operations

provision of data and information to other SOCOG functional areas regarding athletes, team officials, technical officials, ISSF Technical Committees, transport, accommodation, training, Field of Play operations etc.

SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING CENTRE

From the commencement of the main building contract on 11 July 1998, construction is approximately 45% completed with the project expected to be finished according to schedule in mid 1999. When completed the SISC will provide shooters with the most modern complex in the world.

ISSF Technical Delegates, Gary Anderson [USA] and Jésus Elizondo [Mexico] are scheduled to visit Sydney in February 1999 to conduct the first of their two technical inspections of the range. ISCD Paralympic Technical Delegate Dave Baskin [USA], is also scheduled to visit Sydney for his inspection at the corresponding time.

VOLUNTEER - Update

Approximately 200 shooting specific people have expressed their interest in volunteering for the Games. This number will be increased when details of the General Volunteer Recruitment Program are released. If you have not expressed your interest in being a shooting specific volunteer and would like to do so, please contact Shooting Administration Manager Gina Di Lullo on [02] 92973765 and Gina will arrange for you to receive an Expression of Interest form which would need to be completed and returned as soon as possible.

In the new year we will be commencing our identification of persons for positions for the Test Event in March-April 2000 . The Test Event otherwise known as the ISSF World Cup, is where we will obtain our Olympic and Paralympic National Technical Officials and shooting specific volunteers. The Test Event is expected to be the largest International Shooting competition ever conducted in Australia with athlete numbers expected to be in the vicinity of 800 plus officials. It will also provide an introduction of the experience of being an Olympic and Paralympic Shooting Volunteer in 2000.

TO GET YOUR TICKETS...

The ticketing policy and the prices for tickets has now been approved by the International Olympic Committee and released to the General Public in September. General Admission tickets for all Shooting sessions are priced at $50 with competition commencing on September 16 concluding on September 23. The SISC will operate at a capacity of 6,500 - 7000 spectators for 8 days, with Shooting commencing on Day 1 of the Games.

Key Facts
Seventy per cent of tickets will cost $A60 or less Eighty per cent will cost less than $A100 Five million tickets will be made through the Australian public ticket offer three quarters of these tickets will give more Australians the opportunity to see the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, per head of population, than any other Olympic Games host nation population.

Application will be by mail order, which means there is no first in, first served, and will allow well informed decisions to be made at home prior to applying for tickets. People will have 45 days to complete and return their order form for their choices in 635 sessions of sport and ceremonies across 16 days. Australians will be able to order Olympic tickets in mid 1999 when an information and mail order booklet will be distributed through News Limited newspapers around the country.

To give all Australians a fair chance to buy tickets, people are limited to purchasing four tickets per person for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and six tickets to all other sessions. Where more people want tickets to a session than there are available seats, the tickets will be allocated on the basis of random computer selection. SOCOG will set aside 1.5 million tickets priced between $A10 and $A19 especially to help schools and disadvantaged. These will be called 'Olympic Opportunity' tickets.

TICKETS 'n' TRANSPORT

The Olympic transport system will operate 24 hours a day for the general public during the 16 days of the Olympic Games. Olympic spectators will have free travel on the Olympic transport system for the entire day of their Olympic event and until 4am the following day. This free travel will be available on the City Rail network and the special Olympic bus routes, but will also include unlimited travel for other purposes over the relevant period.

The free travel will cover more than 300 stations forming the City Rail Suburban and Inter City Network - extending to Newcastle, Dungog and Scone in the Hunter Valley; Port Kembla and Bomaderry (Nowra) to the south; Goulburn to the south west; and through the Blue Mountains to Lithgow.

Buses covered by the scheme include the Sydney Olympic Park regional bus routes - buses to Sydney Olympic Park on routes designed to complement the rail system; shuttle buses between venues and car parking and between Olympic competition venues; and shuttle buses operating between railway stations and venues. A free bus will also operate from Bathurst to Lithgow to increase access to the western boundary of the free rail travel.

Access to the shooting venue will be by shuttle bus from Eastern Creek "Park and Ride" station (approximately 15 kms, 19 mins) and Liverpool and Blacktown railway stations.

TORCH RELAY EXCITEMENT

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay will offer a unique opportunity for Australians to "Share The Spirit" of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The Torch will be lit on 12 May 2000 from a flame kindled by the sun's rays at a special ceremony in Olympia, Greece, home of the original Olympic Games. From this flame the Olympic Torch and two miner's safety lamps are lit, then carried by Torchbearers to Athens and from there by as many means of transport as possible to the host city of the Games, Sydney. Any Torch which goes out anywhere on the journey is re-ignited by the Olympic Flame from one of the miner's lamps.

On its way to Australia the Torch Relay will visit the nearby Olympic nations in Oceania - Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. The Torch Relay provides SOCOG with the opportunity to plan a unique journey which showcases Australia and Oceania's history, people, culture and diverse geography to the rest of the world. The Torch will be carried around Oceania for approximately 20 days prior to its arrival in Australia on 8 June, 2000. The Torch will visit all States and Territories and will journey within one hour's drive of 85% of Australia's population.

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay will have 10,000 Torchbearers throughout Australia with each Torchbearer carrying the Torch by foot for up to a kilometre, with the average slot length 500 metres. Included in the 10,000 will be Olympians, community representatives and a wide cross section of people from all walks of life. In 1999 a National campaign will be launched for anyone who wishes to apply to be a Torchbearer. The Torchbearer Selection Process will be open for several months following which all applications will be assessed with those persons selected to be announced early in 2000. Running alongside the Torchbearers will be 2,500 escort runners during the 100 day Relay - the longest and most comprehensive of any Relay since it began in 1936.

The Torch will also travel by various forms of transport which is likely to include a train, bicycle, stock horse, tram, road train, rowing boat, canoe, dragon boat, ferry, solar vehicle, wave piercer and even by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Together with the many community celebrations, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay will allow millions of people a chance to be directly involved with the Games.

HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL WATCH THE GAMES WITH YOU ?

The Olympic Games is the largest single broadcast event in the world - larger than the World Cup or any other event. Approximately 160 countries broadcast the 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games, and more than 220 countries will broadcast the Sydney Olympic Games. The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games expects that there will be a cumulative audience of 3.5 billion people watching the Games on television.

WHO'S WASHING UP!!!

Total number of people in each category to be catered for during the Games:

Athletes and team officials -15,300

Technical officials - 2,500

Olympic Family - 8,000

Accredited media -15,000

Paid and volunteer staff - 60,000

In total, over 1000 tonnes of food!!!! 333,333 bowls of Uncle Tobys pasta (25 tonnes). 202,400 bottles of Golden Canola vegetable oil (115 tonnes) 320,000 bowls of Uncle Tobys cereal (16 tonnes) 1100000 loaves (23 million slices) Buttercup bread (550 tonnes of baked goods) 1800,000 Uncle Tobys breakfast and muesli bars (54 tonnes) 83,333 chickens (150 tonnes) 60 tonnes of sauces and salad dressing.

OLYMPIC WEBSITE

A new-look web-site has been unveiled to provide the public with up-to-date information about Sydney 2000 - from Olympic ticket prices, to competition scheduling. You can log in to all of this and much more via the following address: www.sydney.olympic.org.

OLYMPIC QUOTE

There is nothing in the world like being in the Olympic city during a Games. The brew is one of excitement, anxiety, colour and athletic endeavour that, when taken in deep draughts by any youngster with natural ability, saturates the brain with aspirations that can lead to all sorts of juvenile resolutions. (Herb Elliott 1994)

HOW BIG IS THIS ...

The number of towels needed during the Games is 140 000, which is 7 kms high if stacked, equal to 3 times the height of Mt. Koszciusko. 198 000 rooms will be cleaned during the Games. The volume of toilet tissue to be used during the Games (if rolled out) will be 14960 kms, which is around four times the distance from Sydney to Perth.

NEXT UPDATE ....

Having provided you with an indication of the work that SOCOG and the shooting department is undertaking to ensure the best shooting competition of all time, we will begin profiling the people who currently make up the shooting team at SOCOG in the next Shooting Update, all of whom bring with them varying degrees of experience and knowledge for their respective roles with SOCOG.

Contact Details : Alan Maher, Competition Manager, Tel 02 9297 2460, Fax 02 9297 2019

SOCOG INFORMATION CENTRE

Enquiries regarding competition program, volunteer forms, Torch Relay etc, can be answered for the cost of a local telephone call.

For easy access to information about the Sydney 2000 Games, call 136 363.

Alan Maher, Competition Manager-Shooting