The Olympics Come To Bondi Beach

From where I am standing at the top of the Olympic Beach Volleyball stadium, the scene stretching below along the curve of golden sand that is Bondi beach is not of swimmers, but of a moving throng of color of people excitedly waiting the arrival of the Olympic torch.

It is September, 2000, and the Summer Olympic Games are coming to our home town Sydney. The sky is a brilliant spring Aussie blue, the gentle waves are slapping at the shore in rows of white foam.

An area has been roped off for the Olympic torch bearers to run along the beach, and the sound of joyous music is blaring through the loud speakers.  

A surf-lifesaving rescue boat appears around the southern tip of the headland, the Olympic runner in the bow, standing erect and holding the torch aloft. The life-guards row in unison, escorted by pleasure cruisers and police boats, until their boat slides effortlessly up onto the sand and they lift their oars high in salute to the Olympic Games.

The Olympic torch has come by road up the coast of New South Wales and it is passed in turn to other athletes to run along the beach and up the road on its way to Sydney and the Olympic Games.

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There was no better place in the world to hold the Olympic beach volleyball competition. The temporary stadium was leased from Germany, dismantled there and re-erected here opposite the Bondi pavilion piece by piece. It seated 10,000 people, held only one court, and as the sport was new to the Olympic Games there was a lot of interest in it, and in the young energetic glamorous athletes. A much smaller stadium, 2 warm-up courts, and 3 training courts were also set up on the sand to host the tournament.

Some of the locals were not impressed with this invasion of their sacred piece of ground, but the Council pressed ahead and after the Olympics the beach was restored to its original charm, and the protesters to their usual cool.

The Bondi Pavilion, a Spanish-style heritage building, was adapted to suit the needs of the Olympic Games and given a new facelift. It became the reception area where VIPs and visitors registered on arrival, lunches were provided, and where they were escorted across the promenade to their seats in the Olympic stadium. I was one of 14,000 volunteers who were assigned to this Olympic venue, and notable visitors to this Olympic site were Prince Albert of Monaco and Chelsea Clinton.

Every person was scrutinized on entry to the Olympic venue but there was nothing of the intense security procedures which would accompany such events these days.

The Bondi pavilion, built in 1928, was named "The Playground of the Pacific" and originally provided Turkish Baths and a ballroom, but after the Olympics it returned to being the hub of major festivals, celebrations and live theatre performances throughout the year. It also houses an art gallery, cinema theatre, day care center, showers and changing rooms, food outlets and exhibition halls since the Olympics.

 Read more about the beach

 Want to know how to play Beach Volleyball?   see sub- page