No Pity, No Fear - Let The Games Begin

18 October 2020

No Pity, No Fear - Let The Games Begin

A report of the opening ceremony of the 2000 Paralympic Games by Jenna Price in The Canberra Times

No pity. No fear. No worries.

Welcome to Australia's Paralympic Games. No pity, definitely. Those in wheelchairs are chucking wheelies.

Those on sticks are swinging to the rhythm. The blind are boogying. These folks mightn't be as able as the Olympians but let's guess they'd beat the pants off most of the population.

No pity. There is Jeff St John, old rocker that he is, belting out Advance Australia Fair. Since 1967 he's been in a wheelchair but when he started singing the national anthem last night it was with the same energy that he sang Teach Me How To Fly 30 years ago.

No fear. There is Angie Ballard, Paralympian, wheelchair racer, in a weird gizmo, like a pedal-powered glider. She is whizzing around the stadium in the rain, through the air.

There's an athlete from Turkmenistan on sticks but he gets a mate to hold them and he walks part of the way on his hands. He is so strong that he can hold himself parallel to the ground. He's so strong you wonder how he can be a Paralympian but then when he's upright you see his legs are so limp as to be useless.

The people in the stadium stand and cheer. No worries. This is Australia, after all.

And the best take the Paralympic organisers had on their opening ceremony was to make the decision to go low-key. Young dancers in overalls clap and wave for what seems like hours, bopping along to their own rhythms. Athletes pour into the stadium, some get louder applause than others.

Australians, still recovering from Hoogie and Inky, welcome the Dutch politely but cheer loudly when the Irish rock up. Then, finally, our team arrives, led by Brendan Burkitt, four-time Paralympian, and we go ballistic. And there's hundreds of them, more than all of Africa put together.

Wayne Ryding, who used to be one of ours but married an Englishwoman and changed nationality, is dancing in his wheelchair, happy to be back. Even the formalities were informal. The three dignitaries spoke briefly: Dr John Grant, president of the Sydney Paralympics, declared that Sydney was ready to hold the Games; Dr Robert Steadward, president of the International Paralympic Games, thanked Juan Antonio Samaranch for his support and Australians for their hospitality; and Sir William Deane, making a better fist of this appearance than he did at the Olympic opening ceremony, declared the Games open.

But it was Tracey Cross, dual gold-medallist, Barcelona and Atlanta, who totally bowled the audience. She came to the platform with her guide dog and with a lovely shy smile took the Athletes' Oath. And in the background were giant inflatable angels watching five torch-bearers: Michael Milton, Lisa Llorens, Kevin Coombs, Anthony Clarke and Katrina Webb, each with a disability, each with courage.

But there was one athlete meant to light the cauldron and last night, that was Louise Sauvage. It was the one moment of high drama last night and it didn't last long. Within five minutes there was a giant inflatable blowfly, and a sea of pop songs and torches and lights and smoke.

And Kylie singing Matilda. Now for some sport!