A joke does the rounds that Australians are so crazy about sport they’d bet on two flies crawling up the wall of an Outback outhouse.
If it’s set for Melbourne, this line usually is appended: And thousands of people will turn up to watch.
Melbourne hosted the biggest Commonwealth Games, selling more than 1,5-million tickets across 12 days of competition on a 16-sport programme that featured the usual athletics and swimming events as well as lawn bowls and netball.
Australia’s domination of a fifth consecutive Commonwealth Games — winning a record 84 gold medals and 221 overall — was bookended by opening and closing ceremonies attracting 80Â 000-plus crowds, supporting Melbourne’s claim as Australia’s sports capital.
Despite Jamaica claiming golden doubles in the men’s and women’s 100- and 200-metres, high hurdles and sprint relays — including a pair of titles for 100m world record holder Asafa Powell — and a sprinkling of world and Olympic champions, Australia’s number one-ranking in track and field reflected a lack of deep competition.
United States track great Michael Johnson put some perspective on it, coming from a nation that forcibly removed itself from the old British Empire.
”People try to put these [games] on a par with the world championships or the Olympics but they are not — never have been, never will be,” said Johnson, who owns the 200- and 400m world records.
Johnson, in his column for the British Broadcasting Cororation, said the Commonwealth Games was little more than a stepping stone for athletes into major international meets.
The Australians had an unfair advantage, he suggested, because this was their normal season and there was no need to adjust training.
”That has been constantly on my mind every time I saw another Australian athlete win because I thought maybe that athlete probably isn’t the best athlete.”
Organisers didn’t care too much for the criticism. Australia paid for it, among the expenses was refurbishing the main venue — the Melbourne Cricket Ground that also hosted the 1956 Olympics — at a cost of more than Aus$450-million ($338-million).
And apart from an extravagant, Melbourne-centric opening ceremony featuring a flying tram and the occasional attempt at one-upmanship with interstate rival Sydney, there weren’t too many comparisons between Melbourne 2006 and the 2000 Olympics.
Organisers went over budget on security, spending more than a hundred million Australian dollars on a safety net involving state and federal police, military personnel and aircraft and thousands of private security staff.
The official line on the total cost: detail to be advised.
Whatever it cost, it worked.
Apart from charges of indecent assault leveled against an Indian masseur — who appeared in court the day of the March 15 opening ceremony — and a Bangladeshi runner — who faced court on the penultimate day — security breaches were minimal.
Four juvenile criminals escaped a detention facility adjoining the athletes village and spent less than a minute running across a vacant block inside before being recaptured by police.
There was nothing stopping those wanting to leave the village.
After a Tanzanian boxer and a Bangladeshi runner went missing, 14 members of the Sierra Leone team left in groups.
At the request of team officials, games organisers revoked accreditation for the Sierra Leone athletes, meaning they would become illegal immigrants as of midnight on Sunday unless they contacted authorities.
Leaders of the old Empire came back, with British monarch Queen Elizabeth II the games and British Prime Minister Tony Blair arriving in time for the closing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground –centerpiece of the games and of the 1956 Olympics.
Blair and Sebastien Coe, a two-time Olympic 1Â 500m champion and chairperson of the 2012 London Olympic committee, marveled at the Melbourne venues and imagined similar for themselves.
Johnson was not the only high-profile American to visit the games. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent a night at the swimming, getting some tips from Ian Thorpe, and George Foreman did some commentary work at the boxing.
Thorpe’s inability to compete robbed the games of some star appeal. He had a serious virus.
Regardless, his name came up daily, with Indian marksman Samaresh Jung targeting his record gold medals for a single Commonwealth Games.
Thorpe shared that record with fellow Australian swimmer Susie O’Neill (1998) and Graeme Smith of Canada, who won six swimming gold at Edmonton in ’78.
Jung came up one short, finishing third and ninth in his last pistol shooting events after winning five consecutive titles. He shared that mark as the most successful competitor in Melbourne with Australian swimmer Libby Lenton, who also won five.
Breaststroker Leisel Jones, who set two world records in swimming, won four gold medals.
In an unexpected record run, Canada’s Alexandra Orlando won four rhythmic gymnastics gold medals to go with her earlier wins in the team event and individual all-around for a share of the record.
That lifted Canada to third place on the medal standings with 26 gold and 86 overall — well behind Australia and second place England (36 gold and 110 overall).
Canada’s team leader Ross Outerbridge said the third-place finish was mixed with joy and disappointment.
”There were sports that fell short of goals because of the timing of the Games, because of the long travel distance, because of bad luck or because we may have simply overestimated our results,” he said.
India was fourth in the standings with 22 gold medals and 50 overall, although its campaign was marred by a late doping scandal involved two weightlifters — who competed and one who was withdrawn.
Those hearings were twice adjourned in Melbourne, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport expected to hand down a ruling next week.
That shunted any whiff of taint sideways before India received the Commonwealth Games flag from Melbourne in the closing ceremonies.
Next stop: New Delhi 2010. – Sapa-AP