We have reached the twenty-first century after starting this miniseries in the nineteenth century. Wow! Olympic Wednesday goes down under to Australia for the second time with the spectacle that was Sydney in 2000. A total of 200 nations sent 10,647 athletes to compete in 300 medal events across 39 disciplines. Those numbers seem huge, as more inclusivity became part of the Olympic mantra—and its profiteering.

The United States came out atop the medal table with 93 total pieces of non-chewable discs, while the Russian Federation was second with 89 podiums. And if you think that was dramatic, there were three countries fighting for third: China (58), the host nation (58), and Germany (56). A lot of famous deeds went down in this olympiad, and because of the extensive media coverage, a lot of images are seared into memory.

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Ian Thorpe, Australia

It would be hard not to give this nod to Ian Thorpe, who swam hard for the host nation—and won five medals overall, including three golds (400m freestyle, 4x100m free relay, 4x200m free relay). He also won silver in the 200m free and the 4x100m medley relay. The Thorpedo was just 17 years old; he captured the enthusiasm and the spirit of Australia for the world to see. And his greatest achievements were still ahead.

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Inge de Bruijn, Netherlands

After missing the Atlanta Games, Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn dominated the competition in Sydney with three individual golds: 50m free, 100m free, and 100m butterfly. She added a silver medal in the 4x100m free relay. She had swam in Barcelona, albeit without finishing higher than fifth in any of her events, and then she withdrew from her national team before the 1996 Games for mental-health reasons.

Most Outstanding Male Team: Chinese Table Tennis

For the second time in a row, we award this hardware to the table tennis team from China. After winning gold in doubles four years earlier, Kong Linghui won gold in singles this time—and added a silver in doubles. Meanwhile, double-gold winner from Atlanta, Liu Guoliang, merely took silver in doubles and bronze in singles. The big upset was Wang Liqin and Yan Sen winning gold in the doubles event, for sure.

Most Outstanding Female Team: Chinese Table Tennis

For the third time in a row, we award this hardware to the table tennis team from China. Wang Nan won two golds, in singles and doubles, while Li Ju took silver in singles and teamed with Nan to win gold in the doubles event. The team of Sun Jin and Yang Ying won silver in the doubles event to complete the domination of the discipline by the Chinese women, again. Will this team get a fourth straight nod? Hmm.