Sydney hosting the Summer Paralympics in 2000 gave Paralympians and parasport a profile they hadn’t previously had in Australia.

Swimming champion Priya Cooper OAM is one of Australia’s most successful Paralympians having won an awe-inspiring 16 medals, 9 of them gold.

Tim Sullivan OAM is an elite Australian athlete with cerebral palsy. As we see here, Sullivan had an incredible Paralympic Games in 2000, winning 5 gold medals.

This excerpt from the Network Ten series Australian Dreams (1999) profiles wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage OAM – one of Australia’s most renowned althletes. 

Ben Austin OAM is an Australian Aboriginal elite sportsperson with a disability.

Wheelchair basketballers Troy 'Wild Thing' Sachs OAM and Jane Sachs (née Webb) are profiled in this excerpt from the Network Ten series Australian Dreams (1999).

Heath Francis OAM is an Australian elite athlete with a disability.

This story from reporter Alison Blanksby on Ten News Sydney, with an introduction by newsreader Ron Wilson, covers the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.

Jacqueline Freney OAM is an Australian elite swimmer. She represented Australia at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Paralympic Games winning a total of 11 medals, 8 of them gold.