Spectacular start to Sydney Games

12:00 AM

Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic flame at Stadium Australia to cap off a stunning opening to the Olympic Games in Sydney.

Freeman's appearance laid to rest days of speculation as to who would have this traditional Olympic honour.

The evening's festivities began when a lone man rode into Stadium Australia on horseback.

A further 120 men and women on horses followed, riding into the stadium to the theme of The Man From Snowy River. Among them was the star of Crocodile Dundee, Paul Hogan.

Earlier the crowd joined in a rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda led by Australian folk singer John Williamson.

The 110,000 people in the stadium then greeted the estimated four billion people watching worldwide with a hearty "G'day."

The history of Australia unfolded as 13-year-old Sydney schoolgirl Nikki Webster, replete with zinc cream, ran out to the centre of the arena and began a dream sequence that saw her suspended high above the stadium.

The sequence moved to the Aboriginal dreamtime with the sounds of a didgeridoo, as Aborigines from New South Wales poured into the arena.