In Photos: Historic moments of the Olympic Games -- Sydney 2000

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Naoko Takahashi wins the women's marathon. Japan captured its first gold medal in athletics in 64 years, while Takahashi became the first Japanese female gold medalist in athletics in Olympic history. (Mainichi/Tatsuya Onishi)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- People dance while wearing folk costumes from around the world during the opening ceremony. The games were held in the southern hemisphere for the first time in 44 years since the 1956 Melbourne event. Japan won five gold, eight silver and five bronze medals in the Sydney Games. (Mainichi/Yukihisa Hirano)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Naoko Takahashi shakes off Romania's Lidia Simon around the 35-kilometer mark in the women's marathon. (Mainichi/Koichiro Iwashita)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Naoko Takahashi smiles with the gold medal after winning the women's marathon. After the race she said, "It was a very enjoyable 42 kilometers." (Mainichi/Tatsuya Onishi)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Ryoko Tamura shows her joy after winning the final in the 48-kilogram division in women's judo by defeating Russia's Lioubov Brouletova by ippon. It was the first gold medal for Tamura. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Ryoko Tamura shows off her gold medal in the 48-kilogram division in women's judo after failing to capture gold at the 1992 Barcelona and the 1996 Atlanta games. Before the Sydney Olympics, Tamura had promised the Japanese people she would win the gold. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Ryoko Tamura kisses her gold medal. "I finally met my first love," she said after her success in the 48-kilogram division in women's judo. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Kosei Inoue, top, clinches the gold medal in the 100-kilogram division in men's judo by defeating Canada's Nicolas Gill by ippon in the final. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Kosei Inoue celebrates winning the gold medal in the 100-kilogram division in men's judo. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Kosei Inoue holds up a memorial portrait of his mother, who died the previous year, at the medal ceremony for the 100-kilogram division in men's judo. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Shinichi Shinohara is surprised after the referee gave the point to his opponent after Shinohara believed he had won by ippon in the final in the over-100-kilogram division in men's judo. The decision was labeled the "mistake of the century" in Japan. (Mainichi/Takuma Nakamura)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Shinichi Shinohara, right, who took the silver medal, hangs his head while France's David Douille, who won the gold, raises his arm during the medal ceremony in the over-100-kilogram division in men's judo. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Mayumi Yamashita shows off her bronze medal in the over-78-kilogram division in women's judo. (Mainichi/Takuma Nakamura)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Yasuko Tajima sticks out her tongue to express her bitter disappointment after finishing in second place in the 400-meter individual medley in women's swimming. (Mainichi/Tatsuya Onishi)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Yasuko Tajima smiles during the medal ceremony after claiming the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley in women's swimming. (Mainichi/Tatsuya Onishi)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- The Japanese team took the bronze medal in the 400-meter medley relay in women's swimming. It was the first time for Japan to capture a medal in relay races in women's swimming. (Mainichi/Tatsuya Onishi)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- The Japanese synchronized swimming team performs on their way to clinching the silver medal. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- The Japanese synchronized swimming team performs on their way to clinching the silver medal. Four members under the water support lifting a teammate in the air. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Members of the Japanese synchronized swimming team wave to supporters in the stands after winning the silver medal. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- The Japanese pair of Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda perform on their way to earning the silver medal in the duet in synchronized swimming. (Mainichi/Takuma Nakamura)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- The Japanese pair of Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda performs on their way to earning the silver medal in the duet in synchronized swimming. (Mainichi/Koichi Yamashita)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japanese softball pitcher Juri Takayama works on the mound as Japan went on to a sweeping victory over Cuba in the preliminary round. (Mainichi/Koichiro Iwashita)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Members of the Japanese softball team pump their fists into the air as they celebrate in front of supporters in the stands after winning their semifinal match against Australia 1-0. (Mainichi/Koichiro Iwashita)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- The Japanese softball team won the silver medal after losing the final to the United States 1-2. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Junichi Inamoto makes a sliding tackle against Brazil. His team advanced to the knockout stage for the first time since the 1968 Mexico City Olympics after posting two wins and one loss in the group stage. (Mainichi/Takuma Nakamura)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Naohiro Takahara reacts after scoring his team's second goal in a quarterfinal match against the United States. After the match was tied 2-2 in extra time, Japan lost to the U.S. 4-5 in the penalty shoot-out. (Mainichi/Koichi Yamashita)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Hidetoshi Nakata goes for the ball in a semifinal match against the United States. (Mainichi/Koichi Yamashita)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Spain and Cameroon compete in the men's soccer final. The game went to a penalty shoot-out and Cameroon won the gold medal. Patrick Mboma, who played in Japan, starred for Cameroon. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's starter Daisuke Matsuzaka pitches against South Korea in the preliminary round, which his team lost 6-7. (Mainichi/Takuma Nakamura)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Members of the Japanese baseball team are seen dejected in the dugout after they lost to South Korea in the bronze medal match. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Katsuhiko Nagata, top, defeated Russia's Alexei Gloushkov in a semifinal in the 69-kilogram division in Greco-Roman style wrestling. Nagata had to settle for a silver medal after losing the final. (Mainichi/Takuma Nakamura)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Yoriko Okamoto, left, is seen competing in the 67-kilogram division in women's taekwondo. She lost her quarterfinal but won the repechage and defeated Britain's Sarah Stevenson in the third-place match to take the bronze. (Mainichi/Takuma Nakamura)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Yoriko Okamoto celebrates on the podium with her bronze medal in the 67-kilogram division in women's taekwondo. (Mainichi/Takuma Nakamura)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Mika Saeki, teamed with Yukiko Takahashi, receives the ball during their bronze medal match against Brazil in women's beach volleyball. (Mainichi/Masahiro Kawata)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Shingo Suetsugu passes the baton to Nobuharu Asahara in the final of the 4x100-meter relay in men's athletics. The Japanese team finished in sixth place. (Mainichi/Yukihisa Hirano)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Nobuharu Asahara is seen running in the 4x100-meter relay in men's athletics. The team advanced to the final by finishing in fifth place in the semifinal. (Mainichi/Yukihisa Hirano)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Japan's Yoko Ota holds up her arms after she cleared 1.94 meters in the high jump in women's athletics. Ota finished in 11th place. (Mainichi/Koichiro Iwashita)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Michael Johnson, of the United States, won the gold medal in the 400 meters in men's athletics. (Mainichi/Tatsuya Onishi)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Marion Jones, of the United States, celebrates after she captured the gold medal in the 100 meters in women's athletics. However, she was later stripped of her gold medal by the IOC due to doping. (Mainichi/Koichiro Iwashita)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Yulia Barsukova, of Russia, performs on her way to winning the gold medal in the individual all-around event in rhythmic gymnastics. (Mainichi/Yukihisa Hirano)

2000 Sydney Olympics -- Australia's Ian Thorpe raises his fist in the air after winning the gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle in men's swimming. Thorpe won three gold and two silver medals at the Sydney Games. (Mainichi/Tatsuya Onishi)