After the party ... the pain

By EUGENE BINGHAM

No wonder they didn't make the opening cast. Stumbling along city streets, thousands of Sydneysiders squinted through the Saturday morning haze and clung desperately to memories of the night before.

Unlike the bonanza the Olympic city turned on with its opening ceremony to top all opening ceremonies, the party-weary morning-after mob were not a pretty bunch.

Their motion was not so much the expert sway executed by the 110,000 who packed the Olympic Stadium, but more that of a a fisherman on deck in heavy seas.





But, hey, let's not be too tough. Australia threw the world a party. It was entitled to the hangover.

Sydney City Council contracted hundreds of staff to take away the trash - every day for the next two weeks. They say hosting the Olympics is like having New Year's Eve 16 days in a row.

Meanwhile, marching around the sweepers and drunks was the other army, the legion of Olympic volunteers. Proudly sporting Sydney 2000 uniforms, they trooped towards the Games venues, which would not function without them.

The starting gun was about to trigger the first sporting events. This was the day they had eagerly awaited since signing up for their voluntary services.

The Fun and Games had begun and they were part of it.