following calendar for the 2000 Summer Paralympics, each blue box represents an event competition. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport are held. The number in each yellow box represents the number of finals that are contested on that day. Venues In total 12 venues were used at the 2000 Summer Olympics were used at the Games in Sydney. Sydney Olympic Park Olympic Stadium: Ceremonies (opening/closing), Athletics Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre: Wheelchair Tennis State Sports Centre: Table Tennis Sydney International Aquatic Centre: Swimming Sydney International Archery Park: Archery State Hockey Centre: Football-7-side Sydney Showground Pavilions:ID Basketball,Goalball, Wheelchair Basketball (secondary venue), Wheelchair Rugby,Powerlifiting, Wheelchair Fencing, Sitting Volleyball and Standing Volleyball Sydney SuperDome: Wheelchair Basketball (main venue) Sydney Centennial Parklands: Road Cycling Dunc Gray Velodrome : Track Cycling Sydney International Equestrian Centre: Equestrian Olympic Sailing Shore Base: Sailing Sydney International Shooting Centre: Shooting Torch relay The MAA Torch Relay main objectives were to develop a route and an event which would help maintain momentum and the engagement between the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, promote the Paralympic Games and encourage ticket purchases. It was also to safely deliver the Paralympic flame to the Opening Ceremony. While the relay visited each Australian capital city, it also focused strongly on Sydney and the surrounding regions, as this was the main catchment area for ticket sales. The Paralympic Torch Relay succeeded in generating community and media support for the Games, with crowds in many areas and significant crowds lining the Sydney metropolitan route in the final two days of the relay. The flame was created from burning eucalyptus leaves in a special lighting ceremony at Parliament House, Canberra on 5 October 2000, involved 920 torchbearers in each capital of Australian state, each of whom carried the flame an average of 500 metres. After visiting each capital city (except Sydney) by air and land in counterclockwise a way,the torch entered New South Wales (NSW) from Moss Vale through the Southern Highlands, Illawarra, Campbelltown, Penrith, Windsor, Hunter and Central Coast areas before heading to Sydney Metropolitan Region. Highlights included: The creation of the Paralympic flame during an Indigenous lighting ceremony on the forecourt of Parliament House, Canberra, with Paralympian David Hall as the first torchbearer. The Australian Prime Minister was present. The use of a Royal Australian Air Force Falcon 900 Executive jet to convey the Paralympic flame around Australia.