Hi Sylvain,

Well it looks like I picked a great night to be at the pool. Last night's performances were not quite as golden. Our "Sure Thing" Madam Butterfly (Suzie O'Neil) was pipped by Misty Hyman.

I know funding for events that were a medal prospect was increased significantly once it was announced that Sydney had won the bid. The other thing that seems to have made a big difference to the quality of Australia's performances is the Australian Institute of Sport - a place that the elite atheletes from all sports can go to train and cross-pollinate. Centralising a facility like this means that the sports medcine people and so on can be on hand for all disciplines - real economies of scale to be had.

Our medal tally will plateau after the first week - I only expect a few medals in the T&F. Some of the teams events may prove more fruitful. Mens and womens hockey for example.

Cheers,

Andrew

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>Saw the swimming competition last night on TV (a rerun, because we are about 15 hours behind you). Only one word come to mind: amazing. The Australian team is something to see, especially the "Torpedo". FYI, he is making front page in many Canadian newspaper today.
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>I am disappointed with our performance so far (1 gold and 1 bronze). Can't wait for the men's 100m event and the men's 4X100m realy with Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin and for the canoe/cayak sprint women K1 500m event with Caroline Brunet.
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>No wonder you do better than us. Did you know that Australia spend about 280 millions/year in funding for the athletes while we spend only about 62 millions? Small difference... I wish that our country be as generous as you guys are with the athletes.

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>I went to the swimming last night - WOW. We were sitting right up the back of the 18000 seat stadium, but right in line with the finishing end of the pool. The atmosphere was incredible (of course, it did help that the Aussies won 2 gold and a bronze, including the 4x200m World Record)!
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>>The whole city is buzzing - it's a great feeling. We went into town the night before last and watched the big screens. People are all in fantastic moods - talking to anyone who happes to be alongside them at the time. All-in-all it's an exciting place to be at the moment.