SYDNEY-- Carrying the hopes of her nation both in sport and racial reconciliation, 400-meter world champion Cathy Freeman ran a guard of honor the length of the stadium before lowering the Olympic torch into a pool of water Friday to light a submerged cauldron to open the biggest and last Olympic Games of the 20th century.
The 27-year-old Aboriginal athlete, who won silver at the Atlanta Olympics and who has been the face of the Sydney Games for months, stood inside a ring of flame as the cauldron rose from below the waterline and hovered like a spacecraft above her, before making its ascent to the top of Stadium Australia's northern stand.
The stadium shuddered with roars of excitement throughout a four-hour opening ceremony featuring 12,600 performers and 6,000 backstage workers.