Past Olympics

Past Olympics and the churches

Through More Than Gold, churches in all the host cities and nations have risen to the challenge and opportunity the Games offer.

By working together under the same flag, there have been some notable outcomes including –

Atlanta 1996 Olympic and Paralympic Games where well over 20,000 Christians were involved in some aspect of the programmes through which:

• Three quarters of the homes used for hosting athletes’ families were provided
• Over 3 million cups of cold water were given to spectators at no cost to the official organising committee
• Over 45 sports clinics for disadvantaged youth were run, involving over 2,000 young people
• Over 300,000 hospitality bags of lip balm, sunscreen, tissue, and sweets were distributed to visitors at hospitality locations
• Over 300 cultural performances were staged on high traffic pedestrian corridors within the city

Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games

• 250,000 people around the country attended 120 community festivals showing the Opening Ceremony on large outdoor screens accompanied with free entertainment and sports clinics – some had as many as 25,000 people attending
• 250,000 cups of free water were distributed at Olympic venues
• The churches provided the largest amount of homes – 700 – to host athletes’ families
• Over 60 chaplains served the athletes via counselling and leadership of services within the Olympic Village
• Over 2,000 official volunteers served the Games in various capacities
• 110 sports clinics for disadvantaged young people were implemented by 85 churches with an attendance of over 2,500
• Over 1,000 creative arts performances on 155 stages throughout the city

Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics where the Christian community worked together to that:

• They provided the largest number of homes for hosting the athletes’ families
• They provided the distribution point for 3000 meals a day to be served to official volunteers
• Over 25,000 hospitality bags were distributed that included lip balm, sunscreen, tissues, mints, sticking plasters and hand lotion
• Over 30 performance groups were staged including some sanctioned by the local government to perform on city stages on the pedestrian corridor