SYDNEY 2000

  • 15 September – 1 October 2000
  • 300 official medal events.
  • 10,648 competitors from 200 countries.
  • Finnish team: 71 athletes (70 participated in official events).

For the first time since 1984 Finland won more than one gold medal at Olympic summer Games. Both two Finnish gold medals came from unexpected quarters. Arsi Harju beat the American favourites in the shot put final, while in Sydney harbour Thomas Johanson and Jyrki Järvi became the first Olympic champions of the new 49er class of sailing. Juha Hirvi’s silver in the three positions rifle competition was Finland’s first Olympic shooting medal in 16 years. The fourth Finnish medal in Sydney was won by the wrestler Marko Yli-Hannuksela. By contrast, medal hopes were not realised in swimming, weightlifting and cycling.

Medal Standings

  GSBTotal
1USA36243292
2Russia32282888
3China28161458
4Australia16251758
5Germany13172656
6France13141138
7Italy1381334
8Netherlands129425
9Cuba1111729
10Great Britain1110728
11Romania116926
12South Korea8101028
13Hungary86317
14Poland65314
15Japan58518
16Bulgaria56213
17Greece46313
18Sweden45312
19Norway43310
20Ethiopia4138
21Ukraine3101023
22Kazakhstan3407
23Belarus331117
24Canada33814
25Spain33511
26Turkey3025
27Iran3014
28Czech Republic2338
29Kenya2327
30Denmark2316
31Finland2114
32Austria2103
33Lithuania2035
34Azerbaidzhan2013
35Slovenia2002
36Switzerland1629
37Indonesia1326
38Slovakia1315
39Mexico1236
40Algeria1135
41Uzbekistan1124
42Latvia1113
 Yugoslavia1113
44Bahamas1102
45New Zealand1034
46Estonia1023
 Thailand1023
48Croatia1012
49Mozambique1001
 Colombia1001
 Cameroon1001
52Brazil06612
53Jamaica0437
54Nigeria0303
55South Africa0235
 Belgium0235
57Argentina0224
58Morocco0145
 Chinese Taipei0145
60North Korea0134
61Trinidad and Tobago0112
 Moldova0112
 Saudi Arabia0112
64Ireland0101
 Vietnam0101
 Uruguay0101
67Georgia0066
68Costa Rica0022
 Portugal0022
70Barbados0011
 Sri Lanka0011
 Iceland0011
 Macedonia0011
 Kyrgyzstan0011
 Armenia0011
 Qatar0011
 India0011
 Israel0011
 Kuwait0011
 Chile0011

 
Arsi Harju won a surprising gold medal in shot put at the Olympic Games of 2000 in Sydney
(Sports Museum of Finland/
Giuliano Bevilacqua)

FINNISH MEDALS

2000 Sydney2 gold
1 silver
1 bronze
Gold:
Shot put MArsi Harju
Sailing, 49er classThomas Johanson -
Jyrki Järvi
Silver:
Small-bore rifle shooting
3 x 40 shots
Juha Hirvi
Bronze:
Greco-Roman wrestling
76 kg
Marko Yli-Hannuksela

M Men
W Women